The Artist Rights Watch

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On the this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik, David, and Chris sit down to talk about the recent developments with the CRB and mechanicals with lawyer and advocate, Kevin Casini. The Copyright Royalty Board who herein will more than likely be referred to as the CRB, ‘is a US system of three copyright reality judges who determines rates and terms for copyright statutory licenses and make determinations on distribution of statutory license royalties collected by the US Copyright Office.’ The US mechanical royalties are determined by the CRB and they meet every 5 years to determine the rate. Songwriter groups argued for a higher rate, and the CRB agreed. On March 29, 2022 the CRB agreed to unfreeze the $0.091 mechanical royalty rate which would commence a fight for a new rate in the 2023-2027 period. Over the past few years, there has been numerous criticisms about the constant rule for freezing the mechanical royalty rate. The royalty rate currently is $0.091 which was set back in 2006, and frankly, songwriters are making less money due to economic inflation.

Below are some links about Kevin Casini:

https://twitter.com/KCEsq

https://kcesq.medium.com

Selected Frozen Mechanicals Comments:

Rosanne Cash

Helienne Lindvall, David Lowery, Blake Morgan

David Poe

Abby North, Erin McAnally, Chelsea Crowell

Kevin Casini

NMPA, NSAI, Sony, Warner, Universal Comment with Copy of MOU4

Below are some links for further reading:

https://completemusicupdate.com/article/us-copyright-royalty-board-rejects-proposal-to-keep-mechanical-royalty-on-discs-and-downloads-unchanged/

https://variety.com/2022/music/news/copyright-royalty-board-crb-rate-1235219872/

https://musictechpolicy.com

https://www.crb.gov

https://variety.com/2022/music/news/songwriters-win-copyright-royalty-board-mechanical-royalties-1235259518/

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/record-labels-and-publishers-ink-major-settlement-moving-from-9-1-cents-to-12-cents-per-track-for-us-mechanical-royalties-on-physical-sales1/

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: “All My Years” by Nik Patel

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On the this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik and David sit down to talk about the MLC with Entertainment Lawyer, Stephen Carlisle. The MLC administers blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download services in the United States. The MLC will then collect the royalties due under those licenses from the DSPs and pay songwriters, composers, lyricists, and music publishers. In the simplest terms, it acts like a performance rights organisation, but just administers mechanical licenses instead of public performance licenses. Streaming services are for the MLC because it possibly covers them from any potential lawsuits. If a songwriter doesn’t get paid, well, that songwriter didn’t sign up for the MLC which is why they didn’t get paid which means it’s their responsibility.. not the DSPs. Registering with the MLC has become a standard process for songwriters establishing their claim much like it is registering with a PRO.

Below are some links for further reading on Stephen Carlisle:

http://copyright.nova.edu

http://copyright.nova.edu/mechanical-licensing-collective/

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

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This episode was a conversation spurred from our talk with Abby North on songwriting agreements. Abby North primarily works in the music publishing space as a publishing admin and so this podcast is about her experience in admin. This episode goes a little deeper than our previous episode on songwriting/publisher agreements so you may want to check that episode out first.

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: “All My Years” by Nik Patel

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This week, Nik and David are going to continue the ARW publishing series with songwriting/publishing contracts. Whether you’re trying to write songs for major publishers or you’re just getting started, this episode will help you understand the content to look out for when being handed a songwriter contract. In a sense, songwriting contracts are the counterpart to record contracts. Record contracts tend to get more light shed upon them and are deals between the artist and the record label. Songwriting contracts are deals between songwriters and publishers. For songwriters, these deals may be advantageous as it alleviates most of the issues involving copyrights for a share in royalties. In addition, it allows the songwriter to focus on writing and not so much on the business end. There are typically 3 types of songwriter agreements. A single song agreement (TikTok deals are an example of this), an exclusive songwriter agreement (publisher owns 100% of the copyrights), and an exclusive co- publisher agreement (publisher and songwriter share copyrights). So what exactly are included songwriter agreements? What makes a good songwriter agreement? And what are the incentives for a publisher and a songwriter? That’s what this episode is all about!

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: “All My Years” by Nik Patel

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On the this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik and David sit down to talk about the basics of music publishing with the University of Georgia Music Business Director, David Barbe. This episode start the ARW publishing series where we’ll have a couple episodes directed to songwriters and publishers. Music publishing is all about the publishers and the writers of the underlying composition. When you hear a record, you’re listening to the sound recording which is the artist. The words that you hear are known as the composition which is the songwriter. There are many differences between a songwriter/publisher and an artist/record label. From the way you license works, the way works are treated, and the usage of works. In this episode we will dive into the basics of publishing so that you have a good overall understanding for our publishing series.

Below are some links about David Barbe:

https://www.terry.uga.edu/directory/people/david-barbe

https://news.uga.edu/the-show-must-go-on-2/

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: “All My Years” by Nik Patel

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On the first series 2 episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik and David sit down to talk about Record contracts with Entertainment Lawyer, Stephen Carlisle. Record contracts can be very daunting for a lot of artists and this episode is to help artists and anyone else understand the key clauses of a record contract. Often, record contracts touch on defining parties, term and ownership, territory, recording, grant of rights, royalties, mechanicals/controlled comps, publishing, video, tour support, release commitment/delivery, or if you’re in a band, you could have a “leaving member” clause. For the purpose of the podcast, we will just be discussing 3 key clauses, recording, royalties, and mechanicals/controlled compositions.

Below are some links for further reading on Stephen Carlisle:

http://copyright.nova.edu

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: "All My Years" by Nik Patel

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On this sixth bonus episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik, David, and Chris sit down to talk about Facebook and its latest issues with the recent whistleblower and how it relates to music licensing. We cover content ID in other social platforms as well as give a quick update on Twitch.

Below are some links for further reading on Facebook and music licensing:

Twitch Makes Deal With NMPA, But Streamers Still Can’t Play Licensed Music by Nathan Grayson

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/09/21/twitch-nmpa-streamers-licensed-music/

Here are 4 Key Points from the Facebook Whistleblower’s Testimony on Capitol Hill by Bobby Allyn

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/05/1043377310/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-congress

Facebook ‘operating in the shadows’ says whistleblower lawmakers demand probes by David Shepardson and Diane Bartz

https://www.reuters.com/technology/facebook-whistleblower-say-former-employer-an-urgent-threat-us-2021-10-05/

The Facebooks Files - Wall Street Journal

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

Intro/Outro song: "All My Years" by Nik Patel

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Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle feature in this podcast where they discuss the current issues of artists’ rights in the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share!

In the final episode of series 1 of the Artist Rights Watch Podcast, Nik, David, and Chris sit down to discuss antitrust laws and consent decrees in the music industry. Antitrust laws are regulations that encourage competition and protect consumers from anticompetitive mergers and business practices. Supporters of the antitrust laws say that they are necessary for an open marketplace. Competition among sellers gives consumers lower prices, higher-quality products and services, more choices, and more innovation. There are three acts of antitrust: Sherman Act of 1890, Clayton Act of 1914, and Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. Sherman Act allows the federal government to take companies to court if it believes they are partaking in anticompetitive practices and abusing their monopoly power. Clayton Act prohibits anticompetitive mergers, acquisitions, price-fixing, or any practice that weakens competition. Federal Trade Commission Act further banned unfair competitive practices such as those that go against consumer protection laws. In this episode we delve deep in why this matters to songwriters, ASCAP and BMI consent decrees, fractional vs 100% licensing, the District of Justice, and where antitrust laws will lie in the future.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed having these five serious talks about current issues in the music industry, and we’re so glad you listeners have tuned in! We will be back with series 2 of the Artist Rights Watch soon. Stay tuned and thanks for listening! Nik x David x Chris

Below are some links for further reading on Antitrust and consent decrees:

Federal Trade Commission.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws.

Guide to Antitrust Laws. Alexandra Twin.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/antitrust.asp.

Facebook was just hit with 2 big Antitrust Lawsuits. Katie Canales.

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-antitrust-laws-big-tech-hearing-2020-7.

What Songwriters Need to know About the DOJ’s Review of Consent Decrees. Nate Hertweck.

https://www.grammy.com/advocacy/news/what-songwriters-need-know-about-dojs-review-consent-decrees.

The United States Department of Justice.

https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-consent-decree-review-ascap-and-bmi-2019.

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

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Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle feature in this podcast where they discuss the current issues of artists’ rights in the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share!

On this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik, David, and Chris sit down to talk about Twitch and its latest issues with music licensing. With the new development of the Soundtrack application, Twitch attempts to provide content creators to use copyright free music. However, Twitch’s licensing issues stretches far beyond just the introduction to Soundtrack. In this episode, we delve into what Soundtrack is and how it’s used, but also the implications of Twitch in their lack of proper music licensing. To conclude, we introduce a potential solution to Twitch’s problem.

Below are some links for further reading on Twitch and music licensing:

Introducing Soundtrack by Twitch: Rights—Cleared Music For All Twitch Creators

https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2020/09/30/introducing-soundtrack-by-twitch-rights-cleared-music-for-all-twitch-creators/

Soundtrack (Beta) Help Page & FAQ

https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/soundtrack?language=en_US&utm_campaign=Soundtrack_Launch_9_30&_branch_match_id=853721964881314780&utm_medium=FAQ&utm_source=Soundtrack#distributors

Twitch Launches a Rights-Cleared Music Catalog for Streamers, Soundtrack by Twitch By Sarah Perez

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/30/twitch-launches-a-rights-cleared-music-catalog-for-streamers-soundtrack-by-twitch/

Twitch’s Soundtrack feature debuts today, and it will let streamers play music while they’re live By Bijan Stephen

https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/30/21495243/twitch-soundtrack-streaming-music-soundcloud-distrokid-facebook-gaming

Let’s talk about Twitch Soundtrack By Nate Beck

https://medium.com/pretzelrocks/lets-talk-about-twitch-soundtrack-fcaf11027dca

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

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Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle feature in this podcast where they discuss the current issues of artists’ rights in the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share!

On this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle sit down with Alan Graham to talk about the latest trend in musicians releasing NFTs. NFT stands for non-fungible token. Purchasers are those who view NFTs as a way to support artists, actors, musicians, and athletes. Most NFTs can be reasonably priced for creatives to monetise their work; especially in a current climate of no live show revenues. NFTs can represent the ownership of an original copy of a song, album, Merch, or any unique item. They are held in the blockchain where it cannot be copied or deleted. Buyers hope that the NFT will increase in value over time and be a good investment. It is not something tangible that can be displayed like a work of art or trading cards. You need to store your NFTs in a digital space. NFTs are more about the digital token rather than the art itself. The value of owning something as scarce as a digital authentication of originality is what is really being bought.

Below are some links for further reading on NFTs relation to music:

National Law Review

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/coming-blockchain-revolution-consumption-digital-art-and-music-thinking-lawyer-s

Artists are selling their music as NFTs - and they’re making millions. Sam Willings

https://www.musictech.net/news/artists-selling-music-nft-making-millions/

The Weeknd’s ‘Acepthalous’ NFT features new music and limited edition art. Christopher Harris

https://www.revolt.tv/news/2021/4/3/22365418/the-weeknds-acephalous-nft

ASAP Rocky to Offer His First-ever NFT Collection. Joshua Espinoza

https://www.complex.com/music/asap-rocky-first-ever-nft-collection

NFTs Shift Power to Artists as the Music Business Evolves. Matthew Leising.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-07/nfts-shift-power-to-artists-as-the-music-business-evolves

NFTs for Music Explained (in Musician Terms). Ari Herstand

https://aristake.com/nfts-for-music

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

https://www.nikpatelmusic.com

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com

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Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle feature in this podcast where they discuss the current issues of artists’ rights in the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share!

On this episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle sit down with music advocate, Mala Sharma to talk about the latest legislations in music policy in the state of Georgia. Mala Sharma started writing pieces for friends in bands which then lead to working with a small indie label in Athens, GA. Sharma then went from doing PR for musical acts to managing a band. Because of this job, she became really connected within the industry and landed a job as Rick Ruben’s executive assistant and head of production. Sharma worked in the production space for a while and started running a label that was an affiliate of Sony named 57 Records. And if that wasn’t enough, she pivoted yet again and moved to an entertainment banking firm. From there, she lands at your current destination in Georgia Music Partners.

Below are some links for further reading on Georgia music policy and the legislations we discussed in the episode:

HB 226 Introduced by Representative Gregg Kennard( D-Lawrenceville Ga District 102). This bill would exempt sales and use tax for tickets and fees for fine arts performances. This bill would re-instate an exemption that existed a few years back that ended due to sunset clause. For theatres, fine art centres that are suffering during Covid, this would provide additional opportunity for them to recover.

SB 157 Senator Bill Cowsert(R- Athens District 46) will reintroduce this bill from last year. It aims to protect the trademark of musical recording artists. 35 states have already passed this protection for legacy artists. Mary Wilson, was a big supporter of this bill and moving forward will be called the Mary Wilson Truth in Music Advertising Bill. The legislation provides that the name of a famous musical group cannot be used by a group of performers unless they include at least one member of the original group. The intent of the legislation is to prevent unfair or deceptive trade practices, and to protect the livelihood of musicians who were in famous musical groups. This bill is supported by the RIAA, artists organisations around the country as well as in Georgia. It passed through the Consumer Affairs committee unanimously. It will go to the Rules committee next.

HB 508 Introduced by Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton Ga District 4). This bill is similar to the SB157 in providing protection to legacy artists names and unfair trade practices. Additionally it requires online sites that deal “in substantial part in the electronic dissemination” of commercial recordings or audiovisual works to properly display true name and address information on the site. The law is the online equivalent of True Name and Address statutes across the country intended to protect consumers and the legitimate marketplace. Currently, Tennessee and Florida have these already in place. This is supported by the MPAA, RIAA, Artists Rights Coalition, labels and artists. This bill will be going in front of the House Creative Industries Committee for the first hearing.

HB486 Introduced by Representative Beth Moore( D-Peachtree Courners, District 95). This standalone bill would provide musical licenses used in qualified productions of film, tv, video games to be counted towards the minimum spend provided the composition is created, held by Georgia based composers. This legislation would incentivise film/tv and digital entertainment company to use songs and compositions from Georgia based creators. This bill will be going in front of the House Creative Industries Committee for the first hearing.

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

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Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle feature in this podcast where they discuss the current issues of artists’ rights in the music industry. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and share!

On the first episode of the Artist Rights Watch, Nik Patel, David Lowery, and Chris Castle sit down with Ivors Academy Chair, Crispin Hunt to talk about the frozen mechanical royalties crisis currently playing out in the United States and how it threatens UK songwriters and indeed songwriters around the world.

Crispin gives us his invaluable analysis of how the frozen mechanicals crisis affects songwriters around the world and the highly effective #brokenrecord and #fixstreaming campaigns that Ivors Academy supports in the UK that has lead to a parliamentary inquiry and legislation introduced in the UK Parliament.

The “frozen mechanicals” crisis is rooted in a private deal between big publishers and their big label affiliates to essentially continue the freeze on the already-frozen U.S. mechanical royalty rate paid by the record companies for CDs, vinyl and permanent downloads. The private deal freezes the rate for another five years but does not even account for inflation. Increasing the royalty rate for inflation, does not actually increase songwriter buying power.

The major publishers and labels have asked the Copyright Royalty Board in the US to make their private deal the law and apply that frozen rate to everyone.

In the past, the music industry has experienced a $0.02 mechanical royalty rate that lasted for 70 years, and with the current mechanical royalty rate of $0.091 being set in 2006, advocates hope it’s not a repeat of the past.

In this Artist Rights Watch episode, we cover its numerous implications and consequences such as controlled compositions clauses, the Copyright Royalty Board, CPI and fixed increases, how the UK compares, and potential resolutions.

Below are some links for further reading on frozen mechanicals and Crispin Hunt:

Controlled Compositions Clauses and Frozen Mechanicals. Chris Castle

https://musictechpolicy.com/2020/10/10/controlled-compositions-clauses-and-frozen-mechanicals/

What Would @TaylorSwift13 and Eddie @cue Do? One Solution to the Frozen Mechanical Problem. Chris Castle

https://musictech.solutions/2021/05/13/what-would-taylor-and-eddie-do-one-solution-to-the-frozen-mechanical-problem/ The Trichordist posts on frozen mechanicals

https://thetrichordist.com/category/frozen-mechanicals/

The Ivors Academy Joins the No Frozen Mechanicals Campaign

https://thetrichordist.com/2021/06/07/the-ivors-academy-joins-the-no-frozen-mechanicals-campaign/

Year-End 2020 RIAA Revenue Statistics

https://www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2020-Year-End-Music-Industry-Revenue-Report.pdf

Crispin Hunt

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/people/crispin-hunt/

Songwriter Mechanical Royalty Income Questionnaire Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TTPKW8Q?fbclid=IwAR3RUsoiUJPuNjPxrhxN-ZnmdapXiwOmvOpqCvEKuGLOszPhcmP1Ae9vO3U

Below are our social links and terms of use:

Chris: http://www.christiancastle.com/chris-castle

David: https://twitter.com/davidclowery?s=20

https://www.instagram.com/davidclowery/

Nik: https://www.instagram.com/nikpatelmusic/

Website: https://artistrightswatch.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistrightswatch Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistRights?s=20

The Artist Rights Watch: Recent Episodes

The Artist Rights Watch