Welcome to Music Enterprise Worldwide’s weekly round-up – the place we ensure you caught the 5 largest 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 earnings and scale back their touring prices.
The launch follows an preliminary beta roll-out within the three markets in July, which arrived two weeks after TikTok formally launched the service in Brazil and Indonesia. (UMG’s recorded music catalog is out there on TikTok Music in Brazil and Indonesia).
As we famous on Thursday (October 19), the query many within the music enterprise might be asking now could be, why didn’t TikTok Music wait till it had all three majors on board earlier than increasing the music service out of beta in Australia, Singapore and Mexico?
And will UMG’s hold-off from the service in these three territories have one thing to do with ongoing world negotiations to license UMG’s catalog to each TikTok and TikTok Music in future?
Additionally this week, MBW reported that BMI pays songwriters and publishers a smaller portion of its revenues as a for-profit firm – whereas upping its personal margin from 10% to fifteen% of collections.
In the meantime, we realized that Harmony‘s $469 million acquisition of Spherical Hill’s UK fund was overwhelmingly accepted by the latter firm’s shareholders on Wednesday (October 18).
Plus, Common is suing AI firm Anthropic for copyright infringement, whereas Graham Nash has struck a music rights cope with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group.
As of Thursday (October 19), TikTok’s premium music streaming service, TikTok Music, is accessible to the general public in Australia, Singapore and Mexico.
The launch follows an preliminary beta roll-out within the three markets in July, which arrived two weeks after TikTok formally launched the service in Brazil and Indonesia.
In Brazil and Indonesia, the TikTok Music service is licensed by, and due to this fact consists of the recorded music catalogs of, all three main music corporations: Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group and Common Music Group.
MBW has confirmed, nevertheless, that TikTok Music’s public launch in its newest three markets has taken place with the recorded music repertoire of simply two main music corporations: Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group.
Because of this the recorded music catalog of Common Music Group, the world’s largest music rightsholder, is just not presently out there on TikTok’s new premium music streaming service in Australia, Singapore and Mexico…
In recent times, at round this juncture within the calendar, Music Enterprise Worldwide has printed knowledge charts displaying the scale of BMI’s yearly income collections and distributions; subsequently, we’ve checked out how these figures match as much as ASCAP‘s equal numbers.
For instance: In 2022 (to the tip of June final yr), BMI’s annual collections hit USD $1.573 billion; ASCAP’s 2022 collections (to the tip of December final yr) weighed in at round $50m much less – $1.522 billion.
Sadly, for 2023, such a comparability has been rendered inconceivable – as a result of BMI’s 26-page newest annual report doesn’t embody any headline income knowledge. BMI has chosen to omit these figures following its announcement, a yr in the past this month, to modify to a for-profit enterprise mannequin.
There are, nevertheless, different crucial numbers included in BMI’s new annual report – with one particularly sure to get the songwriter and publishing communities speaking.
Ever since BMI introduced its swap to a for-profit mannequin, questions have been circling amongst its members (‘associates’) as to how this may have an effect on their payouts from the org, the world’s largest PRO in income phrases.
Now, Michael O’Neill, CEO of BMI, has answered no less than a few of these questions.
Within the new report, O’Neill reveals that BMI is planning to extend the margin of annual collected income it retains (i.e. spends on working prices or banks as revenue) by round a 3rd.
Says O’Neill: “As we have a look at the subsequent three years of our enterprise, our objective is to distribute 85% of licensing income to our songwriters, composers and publishers and retain roughly 15% to cowl our bills/overhead (which have traditionally run round 10%) and a modest revenue margin…”
Subsequent week, the shareholders of Hipgnosis Songs Fund are set to vote (a) Whether or not to maintain the UK-listed firm getting in its present type (‘continuation vote’) and (b) Whether or not to just accept a proposed $465 million sell-off of chosen property (with $440m-worth going to the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital).
On Wednesday (October 18) it was the flip of shareholders of Spherical Hill’s UK-listed fund (Spherical Hill Music Royalty Fund) to vote on whether or not they accepted the agency’s proposed USD $468.8 million sale to Harmony.
At least 99% of those that voted (round 69% of the fund’s whole eligible shareholders) did so in favor of the deal..
Common Music Group (UMG) has this yr supplied industrial friendship to a lot of corporations which might be innovatively combining generative AI and music… with copyright-respecting intentions.
For instance: In Might, UMG struck a partnership with ‘useful AI music’ specialist Endel; in August, Common revealed it was to co-develop AI instruments with YouTube that supplied “protected, accountable and worthwhile” alternatives to music rightsholders; and on Wednesday (October 18), UMG introduced “an industry-first strategic relationship targeting synthetic intelligence” with BandLab Applied sciences, mum or dad to music creation platform BandLab.
Not each synthetic intelligence innovator, nevertheless, has received UMG’s good graces.
Certainly, MBW has simply gotten phrase that Common Music Group is suing one highly effective AI platform – which final month secured a multi-billion greenback funding from Amazon – for copyright infringement.
Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group has struck a music rights cope with legendary rock musician Graham Nash.
In response to the corporate, the deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see it “purchase, develop, and broaden his musical legacy to new generations of followers”.
Nash is thought for his work as a member of the Hollies and the enduring ‘Crosby, Stills & Nash’ and ‘Crosby, Stills & Nash and Younger’ with equally legendary musicians David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Neil Younger…
