music publishing
Copyright Royalty Board Approves Industry-Wide Settlement for 15.35% Royalty Increase
The United States’ Copyright Royalty Board has approved new rates amid a long-standing battle between digital service providers and songwriters, recording artists and music publishers. Known as “Phonorecords IV” or “CRB IV,” the settlement will incrementally increase royalties for over the next five years until it reaches 15.35% in 2027, according to the board’s members. On January 1st, 2023, songwriters and music publishers received a rate of 15.1% of a U.S. streaming service’s revenue. In 2024, it will raise to 15.2% In 2025, it will raise to 15.25% In 2026, it will raise to 15.3% In 2027, it will raise to 15.35% Songwriters and music publishers have long received the short end of the stick, but thanks to support from the NMPA as well as va...
Robin S.’s ‘Show Me Love’ Is Back in the Spotlight — As Are Old Disputes Over Its Credits
At this point it’s a familiar ritual: A star releases a new single that borrows from an oldie, generating a fresh hit but also thrusting the throwback into the limelight. Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul” is just the latest example — the song’s pinging keyboard riff nods to the Stonebridge remix of Robin S’s “Show Me Love,” a full-throated house track that hit the top 10 on the Hot 100 in June 1993. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news As that oldie returned to the popular consciousness, so did a rumor that’s been circulating on the internet for years: That the voice on “Show Me Love” actually belongs to Andrea Martin, a songwriter with a formidable resume of ’90s R&B cuts, who died last year at age 49. “People have been asking me this question [whose v...
Insomniac Music Group and Sony Music Publishing Ink Global Administration Partnership
Insomniac has signed a global administration deal with Sony Music, inking a partnership that has the look of watershed moment for the electronic music powerhouse. Billboard reports the deal entails royalty collection between the two companies as well as collaborative A&R schematics. The partnership arms Insomniac Music Group with an established administration partner to expand the services they provide to producers and songwriters, like in-house accounting and a new online royalty portal. “It’s an honor to work with Sony, who is the world’s largest publishing company,” explained Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella in a press statement to Billboard. “Expanding our reach to support Insomniac Music Group artists to showcase their work strategically worldwide is a ...
Justin Timberlake Sells Entire Song Catalog for More Than $100 Million
Justin Timberlake has inked a deal with Hipgnosis Song Management to acquire his entire song catalog. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal is worth over $100 million. Hipgnosis now owns 100% of the copyrights for songs written by Timberlake and will also take over the worldwide administration rights to the music once Universal’s ownership over the catalog expires in 2025. “Justin Timberlake is not only one of the most influential artists of the last 20 years but he’s also one of the greatest songwriters of all time,” said Hipgnosis founder and CEO Merck Mercuriadis in a statement. “His hit songs including ‘Cry Me A River,’ ‘Rock Your Body,’ ‘SexyBack,’ ‘My Love,’ ‘What Goes Around… Comes Around,’ ‘Suit & Tie,’ ‘Mirrors’ and ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ are amongst the most i...
Swedish House Mafia’s Masters and Publishing Catalog Acquired by Pophouse
Swedish House Mafia‘s catalog of music has been purchased by Pophouse Entertainment, an entertainment investment company founded by ABBA member Björn Ulvaeus and EQT Founder Conni Jonsson in 2014. The acquisition includes the master recordings and publishing, as well as the writer’s share, of the legendary dance music trio’s catalog. It also includes the masters and publishing rights of Axwell Λ Ingrosso, the collaborative nom de plume of Swedish House Mafia members Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso, who recorded music together following the band’s 2012 disbandment. Pophouse Entertainment will leverage their resources and amplify the Swedish House Mafia brand to become even more global, and expose their music to ancillary markets within the industry. The terms of t...
David Bowie’s Entire Publishing Catalog Sells for $250 Million
David Bowie’s estate has sold the publishing rights to his entire catalog to Warner Chappell Music, the publishing arm of Warner Music Group. Variety reports that the months-long negotiations ended in a deal estimated to be worth at least $250 million. This deal includes all the beloved classics from Bowie’s peerlessly cool lifetime, like “Heroes,” “Space Oddity,” and “Life on Mars?,” as well as Toy, his elusive 2001 LP that posthumously received its first commercial release in November of last year. As Variety points out, this deal also means that virtually all of Bowie’s music is now part of the Warner system. Last September, Warner acquired the rights to the musician’s recordings from 1968 through 2016 — even including his last few albums that were originally release...
Songwriters Get Hit In the Wallet by Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora… Again
Digital service providers Spotify, Apple Music, Google, and Pandora have submitted paperwork stating what they believe songwriters’ royalty rates should be for the years 2023 to 2027. The Copyright Act states that every five years Copyright Royalty Judges oversee discussions to determine what streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music pay as a mechanical royalty rate to songwriters and publishers. These platforms are notorious for incredibly low payout rates and “exploitative practices” when it comes to paying music creators. Spotify co-founder and CEO Daniel Ek. Magnus Höij/Wikimedia Commons The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has fought for higher mechanical royalty rates for music publishers and songwriters. The organization’s president and...
R Kelly Keeps Asking People to Buy His Song Catalog But No One Wants It: Report
Before R Kelly was accused of being a serial sexual predator, he was known as the singer behind such hit songs as “Ignition (Remix),” “I Believe I Can Fly,” and “Bump N’ Grind.” Kelly isn’t making much money on that music these days — see: serial sexual predator — and in the desperate spirit of “sell low,” he’s now trying to pawn off his music catalog on anyone who’ll have it. The problem, as Billboard reports, is that nobody will have it. Having resided in a jail cell since 2019, Kelly is facing a crisis of cash. “His funds are depleted,” his lawyer Devereaux Cannick said earlier this month. And though his catalog continues to generate something like $1.7 million per year in the US, according to a Billboard estimate, next to nothing trickles down to Kelly. Because whil...
Publishing Rights for Avicii’s “Without You” Fetch $65,000 at Auction
The publishing rights to one of Avicii’s most iconic songs has hit the auction market, creating an opportunity for one lucky investor to effectively own a piece of dance music history. It was a track teased heavily in the late years of Avicii’s life. When he first began playing “Without You” in 2016 at high-profile appearances such as Ultra Music Festival and Creamfields, several rough rips began to pop up online as fans feverishly speculated its release date. However, it wasn’t until August 2017 that we finally witnessed the chemistry between Avicii and Sandro Cavazza on the heartstring-tugging collaboration. The publishing rights to “Without You” recently landed on Royalty Exchange, an emerging marketplace which facilitates the sale of royalty-generating ass...
Warner Music Acquires David Guetta’s Recorded Music Catalog for Nearly $100 Million
When David Guetta in 2010 penned his timeless lyric, “Those will be the best memories,” little did he know those memories would fetch nearly $100 million. Warner Music has has acquired the rights to the dance music luminary’s recorded music catalog, which contains global hits “Hey Mama,” “Titanium,” and “Turn Me On,” among many others. The pact sees the music giant acquiring Guetta’s worldwide catalog from the last two decades and inking a new deal for future recordings. While the exact sum of the pact has not been publicly confirmed, the Financial Times reports that Warner spent over $100 million. Variety, on the other hand, spoke to two industry sources who asserted that the figure is in the “dozens of millions.”...
Red Hot Chili Peppers Selling Song Catalog for More than $140 Million
<span class="localtime" data-ltformat="F j, Y | g:ia" data-lttime="2021-05-04T15:02:03+00:00“>May 4, 2021 | 11:02am ET Red Hot Chili Peppers are ready to part ways with their song catalog, but they’re not just going to give it away, give it away, give it away now. As Variety notes, the California rockers have reached a deal with Hipgnosis Songs that is said to be worth upwards of $140 million. Founded in 1983, the Chili Peppers have been a force in alternative music for over three decades, with the bulk of the songwriting coming from singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and on-again off-again guitarist John Frusciante, who, as of 2019, is officially on-again. It’s unclear if the deal has actually been finalized, but when it...
Neil Young Sells 50% of Rights to His Entire Song Catalog
Neil Young is the latest prominent artist to sign away publishing rights, adding to an ongoing trend in the music industry. The deal sees publishing house Hipgnosis acquire half the worldwide copyright of and any resulting income from Young’s over 1,180 original songs. Exactly how much cash the sale netted the folk rock icon isn’t known, but it’s almost undoubtedly a nine-figure sum. It’s the latest major deal made just this week by Hipgnosis, founded in 2018 by artist manager Merck Mercuriadis (Elton John, Beyoncé). Earlier, the company closed on 100% of Fleetwood Mac member Lindsay Buckingham’s catalog, as well as for producer royalties for 259 songs by Beats founder Jimmy Iovine. Young’s catalog now joins those and others owned by Hipgnosis, including Timbaland, The-Dream, Mark Ronson, ...
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