Warner Music Group’s Quarterly Report Signals Future Trends
By Nathan Drake & Barry Neil Shrum Warner Music Group’s (“WMG”) year-end financial reports for 2010 came as little surprise when you take into account two factors: (1) the general economic downturn in the U.S. and (2) the continued piracy in the global music industry. See the report on WMG’s website [...]
New Formula for the Music Industry
by Ross Hill & Barry Shrum The new formula for the music industry, as described by Techdirt’s Mike Masnick, is “CwF + RtB = $$$$,”5 which, translated means “connect with fans,” and give them a “reason to buy,” which in turn translates to sales! Masnick’s presentation at MIDEM09 was geared towards this new business model [...]
TIVO v. ECHOSTAR
Editors Note: The following is a research paper from one of the students in my Entertainment Law & Licensing class I teach at Belmont University’s Curb School of Music. By G. GRANT GUINANE On July 30, 1998 Tivo Inc. registered a patent for their multimedia time warping system that allows a user to store selected [...]
The Limewire Ruling: New King of the Hill for Illegal Downloading Decisions
The U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled against LimeWire and its parent company, Lime Group, finding them liable for inducement of copyright infringement based on the use of their service by subscribers. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood issued the 59-page decision Wednesday, siding with the 13 record companies that [...]
HR 848 passes committee
Rep. John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee brought the Performance Rights Act (HR 848) up for markup this morning. HR 848 created no small amount of disagreement among radio broadcasters, minority broadcasters, trade unions and civil rights groups. However, a group of minority artists, including Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, Dionne Farris [...]
Politico’s interview with Corgan following his testimony before Judiciary Committee on HR 848
Link to Politico Interview As a follow up to my previous post on the subject, the radio widget above should play Politico’s interview with Smashing Pumpkin’s founder and frontman Billy Corgan following his testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee in support of HR 848, the Performance Rights Act. Corgan testified on Capitol Hill [...]
Judiciary Committee holds hearings on HR 848, the “Performance Rights Act”
The House Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on H.R. 848 (this year’s version of HR 4789) tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. Although the Committee’s website does not identify any witnesses at this time, I am informed by musicFIRST that Smashing Pumpkins’ founder Billy Corgan and Mitch Bainwol, chairman and CEO of the RIAA will be [...]
WSM’s “Bluegrass Underground” moves to Saturdays
Beginning this Saturday, Feb. 14, legendary radio station 650 AM WSM will move its acclaimed Bluegrass Underground series to a new time slot. The program will now broadcast on WSM every Saturday night from 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. CST and stream worldwide at www.WSMonline.com. A performance by Nashville bluegrass band, The Steeldrivers, will be [...]
musicFIRST defends rights of artists
By Jennifer Bendall, Executive Director of musicFIRST Did you know that every time you hear your favorite artist’s hit songs over the airwaves he or she doesn’t receive a single penny from the radio stations broadcasting the song? Sounds crazy, right? While AM and FM music broadcasters rightly pay the writers of these songs, they [...]
ASCAP songwriters to perform at CRS-40’s KCRS Live! showcase
Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. today announced the lineup for this year’s KCRS Live! event during the radio industry event, CRS-40, scheduled for March 4 – 6, 2009 at the Nashville Convention Center. The ASCAP-sponsored KCRS Live! event will Wednesday, March 4 from 5-6:20 p.m. The event almost always features some of Nashville’s top songwriting talent. [...]
Barbara Mandrell and Kix Brooks slated for CRS-40 Panel
Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced the CRS-40 “Life Of A Legend” panel will feature an interview session of country music legend Barbara Mandrell by host Kix Brooks. The “Life Of A Legend” panel, sponsored by ABC Radio Networks, takes place Friday, March 6, 2009 at 4:10 p.m. This panel is the climax of the [...]
Local 257 elects Pomeroy to replace Bradley
OUT WITH THE OLD After over 18 years of service to the organization, Harold Bradley is no longer president of Nashville’s Local 257 chapter of the American Federation of Musicians. Dave Pomeroy was elected president last week by a vote of 675 to 449. Out of it’s 2620 members, 1165 votes were cast in this [...]
PassAlong Networks gets cash infusion
Word is spreading on the Internet about PassAlong Networks, Inc.’s recent infusion of investment capital. PassAlong is a digital music distribution and sharing service aptly headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee. According to VentureWire, the company plans to close a $30 million funding round later this month. PassAlong, also known as the Tennessee Pacific Group, LLC, was [...]
Reba and Borchetta team up again
Valory Music Co., the independent label formed last year as a subsidiary to Scott Borchetta and Toby Keith’s Big Machine Records, has added another huge feather to their proverbial cap: Reba McIntire. The announcement appears today on Valory Music’s website. A multimedia entertainer, Reba sold more than 55 million albums, won two Grammy awards and [...]
Thomas verdict vacated; new trial ordered
The trial in Capital v. Thomas was one of the first stories I began tracking over a year ago. See Jury Awards RIAA $222,000 against Thomas: My Thoughts on the Verdict and Jammie Thomas to appeal verdict in RIAA Litigation. Now, in a decision issued on September 24, 2008 – only eight days shy of [...]
Sugarland Lawsuit filed in Georgia illustrates need for prior provisions among band members
On August 7th, a lawsuit was filed by Kristen Alison Hall, former member of the country band, Sugarland, against the remaining original members of the band, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. A copy of the complaint can be viewed here. Essentially, the lawsuit alleges that Nettles and Bush breached a partnership agreement between the three [...]
You Say You Want A REVOLUTION?
You say you want a revolution Well, you know We all want to change the world . . . You say you’ve got a real solution Well, you know We’d all love to see the plan You ask me for a contribution Well, you know We are doing what we can [...]
Nashville Mayor Announces "Country Radio Week"
Nashville Mayor Karl Dean issued a proclamation declaring the week of March 3, 2008 “Country Radio Week.” The mayor will present the official proclamation to Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.’s Executive Director Ed Salamon and President Becky Brenner when he officially welcomes attendees to the 39th Country Radio Seminar (CRS-39) on March 5th. The mayoral proclamation [...]
Copyright Royalty Board begins critical hearings
On Monday, January 28th, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) began what will be four weeks of hearings. The CRB will hear testimony from interested parties on both sides of issues which will ultimately determine the statutory mechanical rates for songwriters and music publishers. The CRB sets these rates periodically, but these particular hearings are more [...]
Don't Mess around with Jim!
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, You don’t spit into the wind You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger And you don’t mess around with Jim These lyrics from Jim Croce’s classic pop song You Don’t Mess Around with Jim have evolved into pop culture expressions used by people the world over. [...]
Music Publishing 101, Part 3: Pieces of the Publishing Pie
Once a music publisher begins to receive income from the exploitation of the copyrights it has acquired, it must begin to distribute the income to the appropriate writers. Understanding the basic principles of copyright ownership and royalty splits is fundamental to performing the task of distribution of income. One device that is often used to [...]
Music Publishing 101, Part 2: Forming a publishing company
From a legal perspective, the formation of a music publishing company is, in most respects, very similar the formation of any other type of company, except that the documentation is tailored specifically for the business of music publishing. The first step in the formation of any business, including a music publishing company, is to determine [...]
Music Publishing 101, Part 1: A brief history
This blog series will explore music publishing, giving a little bit of history and outlining the basic steps necessary to form a music publishing company. Part 1 looks at a brief history and background of music publishing. Modern music publishing in the United States can trace its roots to “Tin Pan Alley,” the name given [...]
Return fire by the music industry – artists to testify before Senate
The Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a high-profile hearing today on the subject of imposing additional performance royalties on so-called “over-the-air” or “terrestrial” radio stations (I’ll just call them OTA’s in this article). Investigative hearings such as these are usually precursors to legislation being introduced on the subject. Grammy winner, Lyle Lovett and Chicago-based singer-songwriter [...]
