Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we ensure you caught the 5 greatest tales to hit our headlines over the previous seven days. MBW’s round-up is supported by Centtrip, which helps over 500 of the world’s best-selling artists maximize their revenue and cut back their touring prices.
This week we noticed a serious escalation of the strain between US music publishers and Spotify, which started when Spotify determined to cut back mechanical royalty funds to publishers by declaring its Premium paid subscription to be a “bundled” service.
The Nationwide Music Publishers’ Affiliation (NMPA) has now despatched a strongly-worded letter to Spotify, alleging the streaming service is violating copyright with unlicensed use of lyrics, music movies and podcasts. Spotify responded by calling the letter “a publicity stunt stuffed with false and deceptive claims.”
Whereas publishers battle Spotify, Sony Music Group is preventing AI builders. The corporate despatched a letter to 700 AI corporations, plus some streaming platforms, declaring that it’s “opting out” of getting its IP used to coach AI, and strongly suggesting these AI corporations might have already violated its copyrights.
In different Sony information, the corporate’s publishing division has inked a deal to accumulate the whole music catalog of Kevin Parker, the inventive pressure behind Tame Impala.
We additionally realized this week that customers of the Udio AI-driven music-making platform are creating 10 new songs per second(!).
Lastly, we acquired official phrase from Harmony that it’s pulling out of the race to accumulate Hipgnosis Songs Fund, leaving Blackstone because the main (and solely) competitor for HSF.
Music publishers look like on the verge of suing Spotify, alleging that the platform is infringing their copyrights via the widespread use of unlicensed musical works.
MBW has obtained a sternly worded authorized letter from the US-based Nationwide Music Publishers’ Affiliation (NMPA), despatched to Spotify Wednesday (Might 15) on behalf of NMPA members.
Amongst different issues, the letter accuses Spotify of not acquiring licenses for using lyrics on its platform. The NMPA calls for in its letter that any unlicensed lyrics, music movies, and podcasts accessible on Spotify “be faraway from the platform or Spotify will face copyright legal responsibility for continued use of those works”.
The battle comes amid an ongoing dispute between Spotify and NMPA-led publishers over the streaming service’s resolution to scale back mechanical royalties by declaring its major Premium paid service a “bundle” below Copyright Royalty Board guidelines.
Spotify fired again in opposition to the NMPA‘s claims of copyright infringement, calling them “a press stunt stuffed with false and deceptive claims”…
Is the music trade actually prepared for the flood of music made by/with AI that can play out over the course of 2024?
You might need already heard of the astonishing quantity of tracks being created on providers like Boomy – the place 19.5 million songs have been generated up to now.
This yr’s ‘massive noise’, AI-music-wise, has come from two new startups: Suno and Udio, each of which seem to provide music with an apparent, ahem, affect from world-famous copyrighted materials.
Udio, whose different traders embody will.i.am and UnitedMasters, is attracting important consideration: it’s reported that over 600,000 folks examined the platform out in its opening two weeks of public availability.
However that’s not the standout stat from a current Bloomberg article protecting the expansion of Udio and Suno. That is: On common, Udio’s customers are actually creating ten tracks a SECOND on the platform…
Harmony has formally pulled out of the bidding battle for the property of Hipgnosis Songs Fund.
The information was introduced in a press release to the market on Thursday (Might 16), and follows Harmony’s preliminary declaration on Might 9 that it wouldn’t be growing its supply for HSF – leaving international funding large Blackstone because the frontrunner within the high-stakes takeover battle for HSF.
The bidding battle for HSF began in the course of April, when Harmony, through Harmony Refrain Ltd, launched a gap bid of $1.40 billion or $1.16 per share, triggering a counteroffer by Blackstone of $1.50 billion.
The bidding battle continued till Harmony declined to counterbid a Blackstone supply of $1.572 billion, or $1.30 per share…
Sony Music Publishing has acquired the whole music catalog of Australian singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame.
The settlement expands their present partnership, which started in 2009.
In 2020, SMP signed a publishing take care of Parker to cowl worldwide illustration of his future songs. The brand new deal now covers each Parker’s present assortment of songs and his future works, SMP mentioned on Wednesday (Might 15).
“The concept of passing on possession of my songs is one which I don’t take into consideration very evenly, in any respect. They’re the fruit of my blood, sweat and creativity over all of the years I’ve been a recording artist and songwriter to this point,” mentioned Parker…
Sony Music Group (SMG) is within the means of sending out letters to what MBW understands to be 700 AI builders and music streaming providers, declaring that it’s “opting out” of getting its content material used within the coaching of AI.
Any AI developer who needs to make use of SMG’s content material will want express permission. The letter, obtained by MBW, additionally states that these corporations might have already violated Sony Music’s copyrights.
“As a result of nature of your operations and printed details about your AI programs, now we have cause to imagine that you just and/or your associates might have already got made unauthorized makes use of (together with TDM [text and data mining]) of SMG Content material in relation to the coaching, growth or commercialization of AI programs,” states the letter.
Sony’s declaration went dwell the identical week the corporate reported$2.50 billion in income for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. That quantity was up 14.7% YoY…
