The competition to buy publishing and recording rights has been heating up — and now there’s a new player. Pophouse Entertainment, a Stockholm-based company co-founded by ABBA frontman Björn Ulvaeus is entering the business, with a focus on developing the rights it acquires into entertainment experiences, as well as monetizing them in traditional ways.
Source: ABBA Partner Pophouse Enters Catalog-Buying Market With Swedish Mafia House Deal
It’s been more than a decade since Capitol Records first sued an MP3-sharing site called ReDigi for copyright infringement, and nearly six years since the label won a $3.5 million judgment against the service and its founder. But according to a new lawsuit Capitol filed this month, that 2016 judgment remains “almost entirely unsatisfied.”
Source: The Legal Beat: Capitol Records & The Neverending Copyright Story
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would hear a closely-watched copyright case over a series of images of Prince created by Andy Warhol. The battle before the high court will center on whether the late Warhol made a legal “fair use” of the copyrighted photograph of Prince – snapped by Lynn Goldsmith – when he used them as the basis for the paintings.
Source: Supreme Court Will Hear Case Over Warhol’s Prince Portraits
The traditional role of A&R was crucial to an artist’s success. Before the internet, A&R reps were the gatekeepers. You didn’t find success in music unless an A&R rep found you. What’s happening today is A&R people will wait to see what artists are succeeding, then sign them to the label. They no longer focus on developing artists, but rather invest in artists whom they know can make the label money.
Source: What Is A&R (and Do You Need It)? – Digital Music News
Following the lead of projects like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks, and World of Women, the creators of Ethereum NFT project Cool Cats have signed major representation as they explore ways to expand the brand into other industries. The Cool Cats makers have signed with Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to explore potential licensing and merchandising opportunities.
Source: Cool Cats Ethereum NFT Project Signs With CAA for Media, Licensing Push – Decrypt
In the first six months of 2021, YouTube processed four million automated Content ID claims every day but sometimes the involvement of a human being is the only way to tackle copyright disputes. To this end, YouTube is now seeking a Copyright Operations Specialist who will be required to deal with ‘escalated’ takedown requests, including those from ‘sensitive entities’.
Source: YouTube Needs a Copyright Specialist To Handle ‘High-Risk’ Takedowns * TorrentFreak
Spotify now says that 52,600 artists generated over $10,000 on its platform in 2021. Spotify also notes that 15,140 of these 52,600 artists – around 28% – uploaded their own music via the likes of TuneCore, CD Baby and DistroKid. The 52,600 figure (for $10k+ artists) is up by 10,100 versus the equivalent stat from 2020.
Spotify has played a key role in the fragmentation of fandom by giving consumers choice over what they listen to, as well as personalized recommendations. Both factors drive listeners further into niches. This is an asset, not a challenge, since niche audiences typically deliver much higher engagement than passive, mass audiences.
Source: Spotify’s Loud and Clear is about fandom, not royalties
Spotify paid $7 billion in royalties to rights holders — primarily labels and publishers, but also distributors, performing rights organizations and others — in 2021, the company announced on Thursday in its annual “Loud and Clear” report. That total is more than any other service and sets the record for the highest annual payment from any single retailer in history, according to the announcement.
Source: Spotify Paid Out $7 Billion to the Music Industry — Labels, Publishers and Others — in 2021
The future in which linear TV is driven almost exclusively by live sports, news and events has arrived, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson after crunching numbers from Nielsen. “Time spent on cable networks built on movies, syndicated TV and kids content has collapsed… as consumers and media companies adopted a streaming first mind-set,” said Nathanson in a report Thursday.
Source: Bleak Future for Linear TV Has Arrived, Analyst Finds