Across the world, there are lots of different initiatives afoot to tackle the music industry’s metadata problems – including accurately filling out the credits for songs and recordings. The latest example comes from the UK, where collecting society PPL has announced a new partnership with startup Sound Credit.
Source: PPL teams up with Sound Credit to improve recording metadata
While the streamers and the rest of Hollywood have been writing nine-figure checks to top talent to attract viewers, a California privacy law going into effect Jan. 1 is shifting their focus to how much information they’ve collected from their users — and who they’re sharing it with. Everything from Warner Bros.’ online Harry Potter shop to ABC’s Freeform app will need to be in compliance.
Source: Streaming’s Data Compliance Headache: “Entertainment Companies Are Going to Be Targets”
Technology company ConsenSys and mechanical licensing administrator Harry Fox Agency have been selected to manage the matching of data uses to musical works on the database; distributing mechanical royalties; and onboarding songwriters, composers, lyricists and music publishers and their catalogs.
Source: Mechanical Licensing Collective Selects Leadership, Partners for Copyright Database
Said Cohen: “I think the industry is so focused on the data that it’s a problem. You guys are very lucky that you now have data but [it needs to be] data combined with human instinct and also still being able to see around the corner about the person that you’re getting involved with.
Source: Lyor Cohen: The record industry’s intense focus on data is becoming a problem
Take a glance at recent figures from global recording group IFPI, and a quick buzzkill emerges. 2018 was easily one of the best in recent memory, with surging streaming revenues numbing the sting of declining CDs and downloads. But 2018 sales levels are still only a ‘comeback’ when compared to the 2006-7 timeframe, and still solidly down from 1999-era highs.
Source: Is the Music Industry Comeback Overrated? A Look at the Latest Stats
Universal Music Group has launched a new app on iOS and Android called Universal Music Artists (UMA for short) that will provide analytics to its artists and their management teams from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon and YouTube, as well as social insights Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in one place. UMG says analytics from Deezer will be added in 2020.
Source: Universal Music Group Launches Centralized Analytics Tool for Artists’ Streaming & Social Data
Spotify is taking its first step toward personalizing podcast recommendations with the official launch of its Your Daily Podcast playlist, which will offer listeners an automated list of podcasts they may want to check out every day. The playlist has been in testing, and the company says it’s seen positive results, which pushed it to roll out the feature to all users in the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Source: Spotify thinks its algorithm can find your next favorite podcast
Since the passage of the Music Modernization Act (MMA) into law in 2018, publishers and streaming services have focused on the creation of a functional mechanical rights licensing body. In formal comments to the Copyright Office, the National Association of Broadcasters, DiMA, and dozens of other organizations are demanding the creation of a far more comprehensive music rights database.
Source: Broadcasters, Streaming Services Want a Working Music Rights Database
Under the agreement, the MLC will receive $33.5 million in startup costs, as well as a first-year operating budget of $28.5 million, with the bill being split among the digital services — Amazon, Apple, Google, Pandora and Spotify — proportional by size, with the largest footing the larger portion of the payment.
Source: MLC, Digital Services Strike Deal to Fund Music Modernization Act-Mandated Database
As the industry enters a direct-to-consumer era, the dearth of data beyond “self-serving marketing” metrics will play a large role in the 2020 union talks. As linear television residuals decline, grasping more of the SVOD upside without losing the protections of the existing formula is do or die for the unions.
Source: Streaming TV’s Ratings “Black Box” Could Lead to Hollywood Guild War