ASCAP Daily Brief

Thursday, March 13, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future [The House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet is holding a hearing today on the safe harbors of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This post by Chris Castle from October 2013 is more important than ever as creators continue to search for a more efficient way to protect their works from being illegally downloaded.] Copyright Erosion: How DMCA Misuse Became A Multimillion Dollar Shakedown and Income Transfer By Chris Castle -- ...due to an extraordinarily distorted interpretation of the "safe harbors" created with the best of intentions by the Congress in 1998 (the so-called "DMCA notice and takedown"), the value of copyright not only is eroded, but an – illegal – multi-billion dollar business has evolved. The DMCA has, in effect, fostered one of the greatest income transfers of all time... How Amazon Is Going After Apple and Google By Chris Ciaccia -- Amazon is going after the grocery business as its next big growth engine, but don't let that fool you into thinking that's all it's focused on. The next target for Amazon? Your living room... Spotify's Ken Parks on an IPO, the Echo Nest Purchase (Q&A) By Andrew Flanaga -- At the Spotify House in Austin during SXSWi, Billboard spoke with Ken Parks, the music streaming service's chief content officer who discussed how an IPO would impact (or not impact) the company, what shortcomings the Echo Nest purchase might address, equalizing artists' royalty payments and much more. Rdio Will Terminate its Relationship With The Echo Nest By Brad Hill -- The Echo Nest was acquired by Spotify last week, and [Rdio CEO Anthony] Bay indicated in an interview that he didn't want Rdio user metrics to be visible to Spotify, one of its primary competitors. Beats Music Raises $60 Million in Funding By Emily White -- The money comes largely from current investors, including Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and Access Industries with the cash being used to invest in product development, acquiring new customers and marketing. Universal Music Mulls 'All You Can Eat' Buffet of Song Downloads By Andrew Orlowski -- Universal has helped scupper such "all you can eat" concepts before amid fears that buffet-style music services encourage fans to join, download everything in sight, and then leave after a short period... VIDEO: Aereo Case: Bloomberg TV Interview with Sandra Aistars By The Copyright Alliance CBS May Go Online, Cut Off Its Broadcast Signal If Aereo Prevails: CEO By Liana B. Baker Why Pono Is the Worst Audio Player I Have EVER Seen... By Steven Finch [Is Google's next step encrypting searches for illegal creative products?] Google Is Encrypting Search Worldwide. That's Bad for the NSA and China By Craig Timberg and Jia Lynn Yang Silicon Valley's Youth Problem By Yiren lu -- In start-up land, the young barely talk to the old (and vice versa). That makes for a lot of cool apps. But great technology? Not so much...The talent — and there's a ton of it — flowing into Silicon Valley cares little about improving infrastructural elements. What they care about is coming up with more web apps. 2014's Highest-Paid Musicians By Rebecca Macatee Earliest Known Fender Stratocaster on Sale in Nashville By Nate Rau -- It wasn't played by a rock 'n' roll hero like Bob Dylan or Elvis Presley, but a historic guitar is on sale for $250,000 at a Nashville instrument shop. The guitar is the earliest known Fender Stratocaster, the electric guitar that has built a cult following all its own. Doris Day is 90 - 'Que Sera, Sera' Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans [Does this mean the end of the triangle song?] Starting Today, Jealous Lovers Can Buy NSA-Like Monitoring Powers By Adam Tanner -- Starting today, mSpy is selling phones preloaded with software that make it simple for users without any tech savvy to start surveillance right out of the box. DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use © 2014 ASCAP

ASCAP Daily Brief

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future [MUST VIEW: This 60 Minutes investigation proves that the tech industry is a bigger threat to our well being than the NSA. I'm not paranoid after all.] VIDEO: The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information By Steve Kroft -- Over the past six months or so, a huge amount of attention has been paid to government snooping, and the bulk collection and storage of vast amounts of raw data in the name of national security. What most of you don't know, or are just beginning to realize, is that a much greater and more immediate threat to your privacy is coming from thousands of companies you've probably never heard of, in the name of commerce. Google: Too Big to Nail? By John C. Greiner -- The case, currently pending in federal court in San Jose, asks the court to certify a class of Google customers who claim that Google intercepted and read private e-mails to create tailored advertising and build user profiles... The Robots Are Coming for Your Job. Here's How to Respond By Matt McFarland -- [Eric Schmidt (Google again) wants us to embrace robot co-workers. Wonder if he has ever been to Detroit?] Amazon Reportedly Inching Toward a Music Service (UPDATE) By Brad Hill -- Billboard offers a report of discussions with music industry sources, indicating that Amazon's negotiations with music labels is going badly, offering licensing rates that one label owner calls "insane."...With low proposed fixed pools (one for indies and one for major labels), Amazon appears to be attempting to devalue the wholesale cost of music. [Of Men and Mice] Disney Bets $1 Billion on Technology to Track Theme-Park Visitors By Christopher Palmeri -- [Thanks to J. Fred Knobloch for the link.] What is the Effect of File Sharing on the Creation of New Music? By George S. Ford, PhD -- Congress is now actively reviewing copyright law, with some hoping to strengthen copyright's protections while others aim to weaken them. As the debate heats up, an increasing amount of research effort is being devoted to the study of copyright, with significant attention directed at the effects of piracy. [Thanks to Neil Turkewitz for the link.] Weekly Copyright Issues Wrap Up...March 7, 2014 By The Copyright Alliance -- Provided courtesy of American Continental Group (ACG). The Oscar Selfie: Why Copyright Analysis Should Be Left To Copyright Lawyers By Paul Fakler -- [Thanks to Terry Hart for the link.] The DMCA Is Not An Alibi: The Googlization of Art and Artists By Chris Castle -- According to Google's most recent Transparency Report, Google receives 20 million take down notices a month for search alone. Spanish p2p Websites Stop Linking to Infringing Content By Telecompaper Neil Young Touts MP3 Player That's No Piece of Crap By Richard Chirgwin -- Crazy Horse man saddles up "Pono" for digital audiophiles. Self-Employed Musician? Get Ready For Tax Time! By Hypebot -- Until software programmers come out with a package especially for us musicians, there are some basic things you'll want to know – even if you hire a professional to help – to save yourself time and stress with tax prep. How Flight Drummers Got 500,000 YouTube Views In 10 Months By Clyde Smith -- Flight Drummers is a drumming education company that used YouTube to grow their services and events. Over a course of 10 months they grew a small YouTube channel to a subscriber base of over 8400 and over 500k views. Mike Curb Puts His Own Spin on Music Business By Nate Rau -- Mike Curb estimates there were 700 independent record labels doing business when he launched his Sidewalk Records label in 1964...With 433 No. 1 records and more than 1,500 top-10 records, Curb's company has achieved success he didn't expect when he lived in the janitor's area of an office building because he couldn't afford an apartment. [Are you kidding me?] Wealthier People Are More Musical, Report Suggests By George Arnett -- Do wealthy people really have a better grasp of music? That is the finding of analysis by researchers at Goldsmiths University into what is claimed to be the biggest musical psychology survey ever. DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use © 2014 ASCAP

ASCAP Daily Brief, Friday March 7, 2014

Friday, March 07, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future [As creators, we are all cut from the same jib. We all have rights that are our duty to protect. IMPORTANT READ.] From Bestseller to Bust: Is This The End of an Author's Life? By Robert McCrum -- The credit crunch and the internet are making writing as a career harder than it has been for a generation. Robert McCrum talks to award-winning authors who are struggling to make ends meet [Thanks to Thomas D. Sydnor for the link.] RuPaul Put A Decoy Album on Torrenting Sites to Confront Illegal Downloaders... By Nina Ulloa -- RuPaul uploaded a decoy version of his new album, Born Naked, to multiple torrent sites. The tracks seem normal at first, but then RuPaul chimes in with "girrrrl, you done stole my album!" He tells listeners that if they admire or want to support him they should buy his music so he can make a living, saying "the real political power is right up here on the cash register." The Lego Movie Makers in Fight to End Piracy By Jennifer Rajca [Will creators get their fair share? Unlikely.] Google's Arora Says Mobile Will Create Bigger Advertising Pie By Alexei Oreskovic - Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets will vastly expand the number of companies who advertise online and will allow Internet companies to reap more revenue than they have from customers on PCs, Google Inc. Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora said on Wednesday. Trends: The Digital Royalties Debate [Artist -v- Record Company Perspective] By Chris Cooke Getty Opens Up 35 MILLION Images for Free - if You (Em)bed With It By Andrew Orlowski -- Read the fine print before you shack up with the vast agency. FiddleWax Lets You Compose and Record Music on the Go By Eliot Van Buskirk -- Some music-making apps are designed for Jedi-level music producers who can't wait to get back into the studio, while others are for beginners looking to have a little fun. FiddleWax sits somewhere in the middle. Anyone could pick it up and make something resembling music, but if you know your music theory (or are willing to learn by doing), Fiddlewax rewards your knowledge with its versatility. Another Bitcoin Startup Tanks After $600,000 Theft By Andy Greenberg [Invasion of the money snatchers.] Implosion of Bitcoin Exchange Spawns Mutant Digital Currency By Robert McMillan CEO of Bitcoin Exchange Found Dead in Singapore By Associated Press Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good? By Julia Angwin -- It takes a lot of money and time to avoid hackers and data miners. The Internet Of Things: The Real Money Is The Internet, Not The Things By Matt Asay -- The Internet of Things is exploding, but the real opportunity is building pan-device business services. Mark Mothersbaugh On Making Music For TV, Games And Film By David M. Ewalt -- In 1972, Mark Mothersbaugh co-founded the rock band Devo, and four decades later is still lead singer of the hugely influential band. But in his time off-stage, Mothersbaugh has built up an equally impressive body of work as one of our age's most unique and prolific composers. Want to Wake Up to the Smell of Bacon? Enter Oscar Mayer Contest By Salvador Rodriguez -- Oscar Mayer has created an iPhone dongle that functions as an alarm clock by producing the smell of bacon in the morning. But to get one, users will have to enter a contest. The Adele Dazeem Name Generator By Chris Kirk and Jim Festante -- When John Travolta called Idina Menzel "Adele Dazeem" at the Oscars, he created a new standard for superstardom: You're no one until you've had your name mangled by a confused, squinting John Travolta. What's your Travoltified name? Find out with our handy widget! DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use © 2014 ASCAP

ASCAP Daily Brief

Thursday, March 06, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future WIPO Exhibition Presents New Strategies Against Counterfeit, Pirated Goods  By Maëli Astruc -- This week, some World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) member states are presenting their national and regional practices and strategies to prevent purchases of counterfeit or pirated goods with the aim of promoting the under-reported hard work of states in this area. Trends Report – 'Takedowns and Web-Blocks' By CMU -- After pursuing a plethora of measures against online piracy over the years, most of which achieved little, and often caused more damage than good, the music industry seems to have honed in on a four part anti-piracy strategy in the last 18 months... Collecting Money For Songwriters, A 100-Year Tug Of War By Jeff Lunden -- ...for a century ASCAP has had to fight — sometimes literally — for every penny it collects. [ASCAP president Paul] Williams says ASCAP collects royalties out of a sense of mission. It's nonprofit, owned and run by its member songwriters, composers and publishers. Pandora Has 250-Million Registered Users By Brad Hill -- Those users have created over six-billion custom Pandora stations. Why the Internet TV Pact Between Dish and Disney Breaks New Ground for Cord Cutters By Janko Roettgers -- Dish may only have one broadcaster on board for its planned internet TV service, but the deal nonetheless represents a big step for the TV industry, and for people sick of paying for expensive bundles. [Thanks to Michelle Kay for the link.] Have You Been 'Twibeled' Lately? By Daniel J. Burnick -- What is "Twibel?" A defamatory statement made in a tweet. Courtney Love, the widow of Kurt Cobain, is being sued by her ex-attorney and her law firm over what is alleged to be a defamatory tweet... Prosecution's Use of Social Media Research By Hayes Hunt and Brian Kint -- Law enforcement and prosecutors are increasingly utilizing social networking sites to build their cases...Therefore, it is extremely important that criminal defense attorneys gather from their clients lists of all social networking sites the clients use and instruct them to shut down those accounts, or at the very least, cease all activity on those sites. Facebook's Drone Strategy: Delivering Internet Access from the Air? By Brandon Bailey -- It seems like every Internet company needs a drone strategy these days. Just a few months after Amazon announced it was working on using unmanned aircraft for package delivery, word surfaced that Facebook is in talks to buy drone-maker Titan Aerospace. Want To Enhance Your YouTube Videos With Clickable Links? Here's How! By Christian Cawley -- Have you ever tried to add a clickable link to your YouTube videos, only to find that you can't? There are in fact three ways to do this, methods that have remained hidden – until now! How, Why and When to Advertise Your Music By Aaron Ford -- Deciding to spend money to increase awareness of your project is a big decision...I've found that a step-by-step thought-process prevents one from completely blowing it. 1 in 10 Americans Think HTML is an STD, Study Finds By Salvador Rodriguez Shakespeare's Tragedies in Pictogram. By Cam Magee -- Warning, contains spoilers…or, OK, everybody dies. DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use © 2014 ASCAP

ASCAP Daily Brief

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future The Death of the Long Tail By Mark Mulligan -- The concept of the long tail seemed like a useful way of understanding how consumers interact with content in digital contexts, and for a while looked like the road map for an exciting era of digital content. Intuitively the democratization of access to music – both on the supply and demand sides – coupled with vastness of digital music catalogs should have translated into a dilution of the Superstar economy effect. Instead the marketplace has shown us that humans are just as much wandering sheep in need of herding online as they are offline. How Digital Music Services May Be Fueling a 'Superstar Artist Economy' By Stuart Dredge -- ...the top 1% of musical works are now accounting for 77% of all those artist revenues thanks in part to a "tyranny of choice" on digital services...The report takes pains to point out that "superstar" artists aren't necessarily just those signed to major labels, noting that a number of independent artists have broken into the 1% tier. One Market is Responsible for Half of Global Digital Music Sales: the United States, at $2.9 Billion By Nicholas Jackson Trends: Plenty of Digital Debates By Chris Cooke - It feels like there weren't any major developments in digital music in 2013, with most column inches dedicated to the ongoing debate over the royalties paid by the streaming music platforms (focused on Pandora in America and Spotify in Europe). Though a more interesting discussion was also being had away from the spotlight about what kinds of digital services can and will succeed. 50 Cent The Latest To Exploit The Music Industry's Newest Business Model By Bobby Owsinski -- The artist and his G-Unit imprint joins a number other artists like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Korn, Peter Gabriel and Prince who chose to leave the comfort of a traditional major label record deal behind in favor of going independent, but with a new twist. Warner Music Begins Auctioning Off Assets to Indies Following Parlophone Acquisition By Ed Christman -- The massive list of assets which indie labels can bid on is thousands of pages long, though WMG will likely not part with any of its crown jewels — i.e. those artists critically acclaimed and/or financially rewarding. US Government Supporting TV Broadcasters in Aereo Fight at Supreme Court By Eriq Gardner ABC, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc.  Brief for ASCAP, BMI, NMPA, RIAA, SESAC, The Recording Academy, SGA, CMPA, NSAI and Soundexchange, Inc. in Support of Petitioners How to Make Your Posts Stand Out on the Web: the Complete Guide to Social Media Formatting By Courtney Seiter -- In this post, we'll go over some simple tricks and best practices of social media formatting to help you create unique, stand-out posts on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest, along with some tools to help you create memorable blog tidbits worth sharing. gTar Licensing Deals Make 2 Million Song Tutorials Available By Eliot Van Buskirk -- Incident Tech, maker of the advanced, iPhone-powered gTar, says it has signed landmark deals with major music publishers Sony/ATV Music Publishing and EMI Music Publishing after 18 months of negotiations to offer around two million song tutorials within the gTar app, which runs inside a special $400 guitar. a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25154-dream-job-digital-instrument-creator.html#.UxX4ac6cf9U">Dream Job: Digital Instrument Creator By Jessica Hamzelou -- Sometimes playing a guitar with a plectrum isn't enough. Jimi Hendrix used his teeth. Creative musicians are always seeking ways to make novel sounds with existing instruments, as are digital instrument creators like Andrew McPherson, of the Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary University of London. 4 Amazing Mobile Apps for Musicians and Composers By Mackenzie Carlin Time Zones and Business Hours Around the Globe By XKCD Philippe Jaroussky And The Impossibly High Male Voice By NPR Staff Justin Bieber and the Beatles: They both liked to rhyme the same words By Ben Blatt -- What is the most common rhyme in the history of pop music? DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use © 2014 ASCAP

Dear Congress, Please Make Pandora Stop Screwing Us. Signed, Songwriters…

Tuesday, February 25, 2014 
by 

Paul Resnikoff

Songwriters have a problem with Pandora, and it looks like this:

(photos: Digital Music News, from handout at a recent songwriter protest in Washington, DC)

Songwriters understandably hate this, but they have almost no power to stop it.  The reason is that despite incredibly low payouts, it’s nearly impossible for songwriters to remove their catalogs from Pandora, or even negotiate better terms.  The complicated explanation has to do with a century of antiquated laws that basically force songwriters to license their content at fractional rates, and like it.

Last year, a number of prominent songwriters protested on Capitol Hill, with emotional performances designed to combat lower royalty rates.  This year, they’re exercising the nuclear option by introducing legislation to change the laws.  This bill, introduced this morning, is called the Songwriter Equity Act, with Congressman Doug Collins sponsoring.

Essentially, the bill attempts to plug two massive loopholes in copyright law that greatly benefit Pandora but essentially screw songwriters.  ”Roughly two-thirds of a songwriter’s income is heavily regulated by law or through outdated government oversight,” National Music Publishers’ Association CEO David Israelite told Digital Music News.  ”This legislation addresses two significant inequities under current copyright law that prevent songwriters and music publishers from receiving compensation that reflects the fair market value of their work.”

“I fear that without the Songwriter Equity Act, songwriting as a profession will give to way songwriting as a hobby, and an important American treasure will be in jeopardy.”

A copy of the bill is here.

(written while listening to CVRCHES on Rdio using Parrot Ziks)

ASCAP Daily Brief

Monday, March 03, 2014

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page of ASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies and criminals have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future Tech Time Warp of the Week: Check Out Mid-'90s Netscape, the Coolest Startup in Silicon Valley By Daniela Hernandez -- Twenty years on, it's a rather amusing pitch. But it also shows that Netscape did more than just lay the technological foundation for companies like Google and Facebook and GitHub. It's also laid the cultural foundation. [Boy, did it. For example, Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen says in the video, "We're looking for people who will ask for forgiveness afterwards rather than ask for permission up front," the morally corrupt credo Google lives by to this day.] YouTube Is the World's Biggest Music Streaming Service, Says Spotify By Janko Roettgers -- Spotify is starting to see nine-digit play counts for some of its songs — but YouTube still drives far bigger audiences. Amazon Wants To Start A Streaming Service By Mike Blossom Records Is Shutting Down on Record Store Day and Putting Everything On a Bus... By Nina Ulloa Dead Air on Radio Royalties By Brad Hill -- Should broadcast radio be required to pay royalties to labels and recording artists for use of their records? There are arguments on both sides, and the stalemate reinforces inertia. But the debate is heating up, gaining publicity, and creating awareness of an issue that many people don't know about. Now You Know Everything About Music Publishing... By Budi Voogt -- It's essential to manage and exploit your musical repertoire, and look at alternative means to generate revenue streams in this realm. To make this happen you need to understand music copyright and publishing...How Live Music Is Evolving with the Digital Age By Stuart Dredge -- Digital music isn't just a recorded thing: there are a growing number of ways that digital technology – from apps and social media to big data – is having an impact on the live music market. With $1 Billion in Sales, Apple TV Is Not Just a 'Hobby' By Chris O'Brien [I dunno, I always feel a bit queasy when I lose $300 million.] Why Defenders Say Collapse of Mt. Gox Is Good for Bitcoin By Chris O'Brien -- The collapse of Mt. Gox, the largest Bitcoin exchange according to Bitcoincharts.com, and the potential loss of $300 million by its customers who wouldn't get their Bitcoins out, might seem like bad news to some. But for many in the Bitcoin community, it's actually being seen as a welcome development. Quoted: Mt. Gox's Massive Bitcoin Losses By Mark Murphy -- Mt. Gox owner and CEO Mark Karpeles: "There was some weakness in the system, and the bitcoins have disappeared. I apologize for causing trouble." Nearly 150 Breeds Of Bitcoin-Stealing Malware In The Wild  By Andy Greenberg ["If this kind of thing isn't good for real people let's see if we can sucker punch creators. Why not? Everybody else does."] Songcoin: A Digital Currency for the Music Industry... By Nina Ulloa 25 Greatest Original Song Nominees That Lost at the Oscars By Katie Hasty, Melinda Newman, Liane Bonin Starr, Daniel Fienberg, Gregory Ellwood, Alan Sepinwall, Dave Lewis and Chris Eggertsen This Might Be The First Selfie In Photographic History By John Brownlee [From the Creator's Survival Guide] 74,476 Reasons You Should Always Get The Bigger Pizza By Quoctrung Bui VIDEO: Rhapsody in Blue Harmonica This wonderful performance of the George Gershwin classic is from 2009 when the performer, Leung Pak-yue, was 13 years old. [Thanks to Hank Jones for the link.] DEAN KAY Dean Kay has been at the helm of some of the most highly respected and forward thinking music publishing companies in the world, first as COO of the Welk Music Group, then as President/CEO of the US division of the PolyGram International Publishing Group, and now as President/CEO of his own precedent setting venture, Lichelle Music Company. Prior to his involvement in publishing, he was a successful songwriter, having had hundreds of his compositions recorded - including "That's Life" by Frank Sinatra. Mr. Kay has been a member of the Board of Directors of ASCAP since 1989 and is Chairman of its New Technologies Committee. He is also on the Board of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA). The ASCAP Daily Brief-Powered by The Dean's List is intended as a guide to direct music professionals to key articles about issues facing the entertainment industry. Recipients are encouraged to read further about the issues by accessing the complete article through the links provided. Author attribution is provided with each article, and none of the links allow readers to by-pass subscription archive gateways. Please note that all editorial comments are indicated in brackets. Questions? Comments? Please Contact Us

Newsletter Preference Center | RSS | Unsubscribe | Contact ASCAP Daily Brief Contact ASCAP Member Services | Terms of Use