Streaming residuals have been central to both the writers and actors strikes. The WGA was able to establish the principle that successful shows on streaming should pay more. But to do that, it was willing to settle for a relatively small amount of money — around $5 million a year at the outset, according to sources. SAG-AFTRA is aiming significantly higher.
Source: SAG-AFTRA Strike Hangs on $480 Million Gap Between Actors and Studios on Streaming Pay
Artists (and their rightsholders) have become just-in-time suppliers, with the subtle, yet seismic, shift from delivering art to their fans when they have finished their creative process, at their pace, to filling a slot in the never ceasing supply chain. It is an environment that, unsurprisingly, has created the hit today, gone tomorrow world that today’s music business operates within.
SAG-AFTRA contract talks fell apart on Wednesday night after management balked at a revised streaming residual proposal offered by the union. The AMPTP announced Wednesday night that the talks have been suspended, saying the differences between the sides is “too great” and that “conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction.”
Source: How SAG-AFTRA Talks Collapsed: ‘I Was Taken Completely By Surprise,’ Union Chief Says
France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music has announced it is exercising its right to opt-out from making its members’ work freely available for use in the development of artificial intelligence tools. The announcement on Thursday comes amid growing debate in Europe over the implications of AI technology for professionals in the creative industries, as well as around how generative AI tools are trained using original works.
Source: French Rights Body Sacem Announces Automatic AI Opt-Out For Members’ Work
Most big movies are distributed by a major studio. But Swift instead bypassed the studios, produced the concert film herself and sought distribution through AMC, a theater company rather than a movie studio. Theaters will keep less than half of the ticket proceeds, while Swift and AMC are expected to split the remainder.
Source: How Beyoncé and Taylor Swift Struck a New Kind of Movie Deal
Epic’s money-maker, Fortnite, is free to play. The company makes most of its revenue from in-game purchases, like skins and weapons. Epic also empowers gamers to create their own content, such as in-game island experiences, and shares revenue with those creators in a variety of programs. The issue, it seems, is that gamers are spending more time with creator content than Epic content.
Source: Epic blames layoffs on low creator margins — what does that mean for the rest of entertainment?
On top of live-streamed concerts, subscribers will also get access to a library of previously-recorded live streams from numerous major artists, including Alanis Morrissette, Alan Jackson, Aerosmith, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, The Cure, Grateful Dead, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, The Killers, Metallica and The Rolling Stones, among others.
Marked under “Included in Premium,” any audiobook within the Spotify Premium catalog will be available for streaming. Additionally, users with Premium audiobook access will have the option to download content for offline listening. Spotify’s audiobook selection covers more than 70% of bestsellers, sourced from publishers such as Hachette, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and RB Media.
The Music Creators North America (MCNA) issues a statement in support of balancing the mechanical licensing collective (MLC) board. The MLC board currently consists of ten corporate music publishing representatives and just four writers who oversee MLC’s annual collection and distribution of hundreds of millions in music royalties. Since before the passage of the MMA in 2018, MCNA has advocated for a more equitable board structure for music creators.