On this week's show we discuss the warning from UK politicians that there need to be “tangible steps to improve musicians’ remuneration and performer rights” by this time next year, and Blur drummer Dave Rowntree’s class action lawsuit against PRS For Music over songwriter royalties, and more.
SECTION TIMES
01: Performer remuneration report (00:05:39)
02: News in brief (00:14:53)
03: Dave Rowntree v PRS (00:19:23)
(Timings may be slightly different due to adverts)
THIS WEEK'S MAIN STORIES
“Fundamental reform of music streaming” must come soon, say MPs
There must be “tangible steps to improve musicians’ remuneration and performer rights” in the next year, says a new report from MPs. Too many professional musicians are struggling to make ends meet says the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee
Chris Cooke
Blur’s Dave Rowntree leads class action lawsuit against PRS For Music seeking “hundreds of millions of pounds” for songwriters
Taking a breather from preparing to stand as an MP, Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has launched a class action lawsuit accusing UK collecting society PRS For Music of misallocating “hundreds of millions of pounds” in royalties
Andy Malt
NEWS IN BRIEF
WIN renews shared values of the independent music community
The World Independent Network has updated its Global Independent Values. First published in 2012, these are the ten key principles shared by the international trade body’s members. They have been renewed following a period of consultation with music organisations globally
Andy Malt
GEMA says German song right income is booming, but digital growth is lacking
GEMA has published stats detailing song rights income in Germany in 2023. While it was a financially successful year, the collecting society says that digital growth was disappointing in the country, especially when compared to gains enjoyed by the record industry
Chris Cooke
Timeline for TikTok law in Senate still to be confirmed, though Minority Leader says its deserves “urgent attention”
A timeline has not yet been set in US Senate to consider the TikTok targeting “sell-or-be-banned” law that was passed by the House Of Representatives last month. However, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech yesterday that it should be “urgently” considered
Chris Cooke
Universal relaxes TikTok boycott - but only if your name is Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift has a new album to promote and would presumably like her fans to help by posting TikTok videos aplenty. But she works with Universal Music, which is boycotting TikTok. Worry not, however, because Universal’s big boycott no longer applies to Swift
Chris Cooke
Have a playlist idea but don’t know what songs to put on it? Spotify’s AI bot can help with that
Many people out there don’t like the idea of music discovery being handled by an algorithm. If you’re among them, Spotity has come up with a solution - hand the task over to artificial intelligence. Yes, that’s basically the same thing, but what you’re forgetting is that AI is cooler
Andy Malt
Spotify planning tools to allow users to remix tracks
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Spotify plans to provide remixing tools within its app that will allow users to speed up, mash up and otherwise tweak tracks in a legitimate and licensed way. There’s a logic to that plan, but it also raises some copyright questions
Chris Cooke
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