How will streaming services consistently identify, acquire and develop projects that resonate? Unfortunately for creators, Moneyball is definitely the future for streaming services, as CEOs, investors and others start looking at those new stats to see how well money is being spent in the Streaming Wars. Average revenue per user is starting to matter, but so too is a useful questioning of one of the internet’s long-held beliefs, in the Long Tail.
August, 2022
Netflix With Ads Could Be Priced as Low as $7 per Month
Netflix is looking at a price point as low as $7 per month for its forthcoming ad-supported streaming plan, set to bow in early 2023, according to a new report — less than half its standard two-stream HD package without advertising, which costs $15.49/month in the U.S. An ad-supported version of Disney+ is set to debut in December at $7.99/month, also with four minutes of ads per hour.
Source: Netflix With Ads Could Be Priced as Low as $7 per Month
Metadata Ruling Gives YouTube a Timely Boost in Content ID Lawsuit
Digital creators may choose to distribute their files along with additional data identifying them as the owner. The DMCA prohibits the removal of this metadata but according to a lawsuit filed against YouTube, the platform removed metadata from MP3 uploads. A recent opinion from the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit appears to tip the scales in YouTube’s favor.
Source: Metadata Ruling Gives YouTube a Timely Boost in Content ID Lawsuit * TorrentFreak
No more paywalls for public research, says White House
The White House has instructed federal agencies to make publicly funded research freely available immediately after publication, ending a loophole that let journals put it behind a paywall for a year. The updated guidance will take effect by the end of 2025, and it expands rules first announced in 2013 but criticized as insufficient by President Joe Biden.
Source: No more paywalls for public research, says White House
The Spotify of NFTs? YellowHeart Launches Web3 Streaming Player
Web3 music platform YellowHeart has launched an NFT streaming player, which founder and CEO Josh Katz believes will unlock a new wave of adoption of Web3 music. “One of the biggest bottlenecks we’ve faced is making NFT content easily digestible for fans,” he said in a statement. “Bringing a Web3-friendly streaming player into the space puts this roadblock to bed.
Source: The Spotify of NFTs? YellowHeart Launches Web3 Streaming Player
Blockchain music platform Opulous launches fund to buy copyrights
This week, Opulous has launched a new business venture, one it says that will see it “take on companies like Hipgnosis” by buying full catalogs from artists and songwriters. It’s planning to bankroll these acquisitions via a new music acquisition project accessible to the masses. The project – or ‘Opulous Royalty Vault’ – operates via a new set of tokens called OVAULT.
Source: Blockchain music platform Opulous launches fund to buy copyrights
Pink Floyd Catalog Draws Hipgnosis Bid, Price Tag Still At $500MM
Blackstone-powered Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM) is reportedly vying to strike a roughly $500 million deal for the catalog of Pink Floyd. Neither Hipgnosis nor Blackstone has commented publicly on the curiously timed reports of their pursuing the Pink Floyd catalog, but a Reuters account cautioned that the entities are “not close to striking a deal” for the song rights.
Source: Pink Floyd Catalog Draws Hipgnosis Bid, Price Tag Still At $500MM
Kobalt Music Group in talks to sell majority stake to Francisco Partners
Senior MBW sources tell us that US-headquartered Francisco Partners is currently in advanced talks to acquire a majority stake in Kobalt Music Group, with the possibility of a deal being signed over the next week or two. Francisco Partners is no stranger to the music business. The San Francisco-based, tech-focused investment firm acquired a majority stake in music creation platform Native Instruments earlier this year, for an undisclosed fee.
Source: Kobalt Music Group in talks to sell majority stake to Francisco Partners, say MBW sources
NFTs, Rights and Royalties
Now that the initial bloom has begun to come off the NFT rose, thorns are starting to poke through. Among the prickliest: legal uncertainty around NFT ownership and intellectual property rights; and enforcement of smart-contract based royalties. Last week, crypto merchant bank Galaxy released a report for which it surveyed the top 100 NFT collections by implied market capitalization (floor price X collection size) to determine how and to what extent the listed terms and conditions of sale convey ownership rights in the digital object represented by the NFT.
How Blockchain Is Sponsoring More Equity And Transparency In Hollywood
At every given time in Hollywood, there are court disputes between producers and directors or between studios and actors. These disputes are often about ownership issues, compensation issues, or a breach of other contractual stipulations. However, the possibility of erasing this recurrent issue is high with the blockchain.
Source: Breaking The Chain; How Blockchain Is Sponsoring More Equity And Transparency In Hollywood