Apple has reportedly signed a deal with podcast producer Futuro Studios to help it fund the development and production of future podcasts, Bloomberg reports. In return for its Futuro deal, Apple gets first refusal on the rights to turn any resulting podcasts into a film or TV show. It has already produced TV shows based on the podcasts WeCrashed and The Shrink Next Door.
Source: Apple is reportedly funding podcasts that it could one day turn into TV shows
Walmart has held discussions with major media companies about including streaming entertainment in its membership service, according to three people with knowledge of the conversations, part of an effort to extend its relationship with customers beyond its brick-and-mortar stores. In recent weeks, executives from Paramount, Disney and Comcast have spoken with Walmart, the people said.
Source: Walmart Ponders Streaming Deal With Paramount, Disney and Comcast
There’s another legal battle brewing between a major video platform and a Grammy winner, and this one has nothing to do with Bridgerton. On August 1, A California judge denied YouTube‘s request to throw out a 2020 lawsuit filed by jazz musician Maria Schneider. The suit, which argues that YouTube fails to protect smaller creators from infringement, will now be allowed to move forward.
ONE Publishing is being made available to both ONErpm’s premium distributed artists and labels, plus DIY-distribution accounts that meet certain criteria. ONErpm says that in the past three years, it has developed the necessary technology to register, identify, and manage compositions in compliance with international standards.
It’s time to reject the “penny rate” model for mechanical royalties altogether, in favor of a percentage of revenue. The penny rate structure has been “frozen” since 1909 and the rates have simply been increased periodically, through processes seemingly disconnected from the marketplace. Tying future increases to inflation sets the penny rate on a path to being even much more detached from reality.
Source: Time to Modernize the Entire Mechanical Licensing System (Guest Column)
On August 1, the U.S. Copyright Office sent a report addressed to Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) detailing the results of the agency’s study into the feasibility of a deferred registration examination (DRE) option for copyright applicants seeking registration under U.S. law. The report issued by Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter concluded that alternative approaches for addressing those issues would achieve better results than the proposed deferred examination option.
Source: Copyright Office Tells Tillis Deferred Copyright Examination Will Not Achieve Cost Reductions
While artificially-inflated streaming numbers and listening bots are making it increasingly difficult for independent and established artists alike to make a splash in today’s music industry, Streaming Promotions aims to continue making things a bit more navigable. Tampa-based Symphonic Distribution has just acquired the Nashville-based upstart.
Source: Symphonic Distribution Acquires Streaming Promotions
People have been debating whether streaming platforms should change their method for paying streaming royalties to artists. This is driven by the desire to see fairer streaming payouts for indie artists, and that’s great. But how would switching to a user-centric payment system (UCPS) actually make things better for indie musicians?
Source: On Streaming Payouts: How Should We Pay Artist Royalties?
While the music industry rightly celebrates artists for innovation, the DNA of popular music has always been based on certain recognized tropes and formulas. But if there ever was a time when imitation would have been seen as a form of flattery, this no longer rings true in the industry today. Copyright disputes, in some cases involving decades-old material, can be complicated by multiple different owners and rights holders.
Johnson might be best understood as the music business equivalent of those earnest long-shot candidates who run for president with a big idea but face long odds — not quite as sophisticated as Ralph Nader but far more serious than Deez Nutz. He has no legal background, and he spends long, solitary days in his bare Florida apartment writing motions and preparing testimony, which is always smart but often over the top.
Source: Meet George Johnson: The Angriest Songwriter in Washington, D.C.