The Problem With Music Streaming and Why It’s Only the Beginning

Posted on 08. Nov, 2009 by refe.

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There isn’t usually much to talk about when a product is perfect. People may rave for a while, but there’s little to discuss aside from the accusations of a few inevitable dissenters. A product or service that is truly newsworthy, however, is one that is almost perfect – but not quite. An excellent product that [...]

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No Royalties for Ringtone ‘Performances’

Posted on 15. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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There are two big stories in the news today related to intellectual property and music royalties. The first, which I will save for a separate post, is the passing of the Performance Rights Act by the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’ve written about the PRA before, but there have been some new developments since then and [...]

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Performance Rights Act Discussed in Heated Senate Hearing

Posted on 05. Aug, 2009 by refe.

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The Senate judiciary hearing on performance rights and parity was held yesterday on capitol hill to discuss the controversial Performance Rights Act. If you are unfamiliar with the bill you should know that it carries significant implications for the music industry. If this bill passes, terrestrial radio will be required to pay royalties to the performers [...]

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British Musician Wants Free Publicity – and to Get Paid for It

Posted on 07. Apr, 2009 by refe.

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It seems that yet again the music industry lobbyists want to have their cake and eat it too – they want someone to drum up free publicity for their work, and to cough up a fee for the privilege. Last week I wrote about Google’s decision to block music videos on YouTube in the UK [...]

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YouTube Blocks Music Videos in Germany

Posted on 01. Apr, 2009 by refe.

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Google recently blocked all music videos from YouTube users in the UK, and now it looks like it has done the same in Germany. In both cases the deal breaker was royalty fees that Google deemed unacceptably high. Google’s contract with GEMA – the German royalty collection agency - expired last Thursday and GEMA is requiring royalty [...]