Here's some news that's been percolating in the industry for longer than you might think. Exactly a year ago this month, BMI made the announcement that they are transitioning to a for-profit business model. Why is this a big deal? Well, for starters, the new model might cause administrative fees to go up. As it stands right now, BMI charges around 10% in fees for processing copyrights and keeping the lights on. For affiliates, (or 'members' to those of us who are less fancy), a 5% increase is a big deal, and could significantly cut into their already-paltry profits. It is worth noting tha ..read more

LifeScore Music, a remarkable artificial intelligence music technology company co-founded by Tom Gruber, AI expert and the co-inventor of Siri, has recently launched its very own record label called Kaleidoscope. This exciting startup aims to showcase music created by talented artists and enhance it with LifeScore's innovative generative AI technology. The Kaleidoscope team collaborates globally with sound designers and industry professionals to curate what they refer to as ambisonic recordings. These recordings combine musical elements with the aim of evoking a unique "sense of time and place ..read more

Remember the recent debate stirred by the new 'artist-centric' streaming royalty model announced by Deezer and Universal Music Group? If you need a refresher, check out our earlier article, linked here. The model brings significant changes to the prevailing 'pro rata' royalty model, and four major heavyweights in the indie space have important opinions about it. Yesterday, September 27th, Martin Mills from Beggars Group, Darius Van Arman from Secretly Group, Stephan Bourdoiseau from Wagram Stories, and Emmanuel de Buretel from Because Music issued a joint letter, linked here on Music Ally, sha ..read more

Songtrust, owned by Downtown Music Holdings, recently faced significant and prolonged suspensions from major rights societies including PRS for Music, SACEM, and the collective ICE. These suspensions caused a major disruption in royalty earnings for member songwriters and rightsholders, with some payments being substantially delayed. The issues began in 2021 and were only resolved after intensive efforts were made to remove fraudulent and problematic accounts and improve internal processes. As a global music publishing administrator, Songtrust handles over 350,000 clients and manages around th ..read more

This week there was a lot of big news! The summer slump is over, to say the least. Arguably the biggest headline of the week concerns Deezer and UMG. These two giants have launched an innovative "artist-centric" streaming model that aims to better reward artists and prioritize the music that fans value the most. This model is expected to increase payouts to professional artists by 10% across the board. Deezer will introduce the model in France next month, with plans for a global rollout in the new year. Under the new model, professional artists, defined as those with a minimum of 1,000 streams ..read more

Recently, Spotify made a significant decision regarding white noise creators on its platform. These folks were earning up to $18,000 per month by recording ambient sounds meant for background listening. However, the streaming giant has now cut off these podcast creators from its lucrative ads program. The harsh hand of justice comes down! The ambient sounds were gaining popularity and accounted for a significant amount of daily consumption hours on Spotify. The platform's algorithmic push for content resulted in increased exposure for sounds with 'talk' rather than music. Although the company ..read more

Some big news in the publishing world - Sean Combs is in the middle of reassigning his publishing rights for part of his Bad Boy catalog. Representatives from the label declined to disclose the specific terms of the songwriter/producer deals, but sources familiar with the situation revealed that the process of contacting artists and writers began in May 2021. This occurred after Combs turned down various offers to sell his catalog. Most parties have been contacted and have already signed their offers, although there are still a few ongoing negotiations to resolve agreements with a select few ..read more

This just in! TikTok is reportedly considering launching its very own online retail store in the United States as early as next month. This move would not only allow the company to enter the e-commerce market but also offer customers a wide range of goods from China. Think kitchen gadgets, toys, and other household items. With existing competitors like Amazon, Shein, and Temu, TikTok is poised to make a big splash with its newly envisioned 'TikTok Shop.' Keep an eye out for the TikTok Shop tab within the app, where businesses can sell their products to TikTok's huge user base in exchange for p ..read more

Two months ago, artist ghostwriter caused a stir by releasing a track called "Heart on My Sleeve." The song featured AI-generated vocals imitating the sounds of popular artists Drake and The Weeknd, and quickly became a sensation on both YouTube and TikTok. The song was uploaded to major streaming services such as Spotify and SoundCloud where it amassed hundreds of thousands of streams. However, it was eventually removed from all platforms due to a copyright claim by Universal Music Group. Evidence of this removal can be seen on the now-defunct YouTube page where the video was once hosted. Dra ..read more

Some big news happened in the music publishing space this week. Justice will be served, apparently! For years now, Twitter has been the only social media platform who has refused to license music on their platform. A strange move, seeing as all of their competitors have gone to the trouble of monetizing music usage. As a result of Twitter's negligence, the platform has become somewhat of the Wild West in terms of unofficial song and video leaks. Either way you spin it, the publishers are not pleased and they are coming for their money.  The National Music Publishers Association, represent ..read more