Music Publishing News Roundup 2.9.16: U.S. Copyright Office, Apple, Beats & Spotify
The US Copyright Office released a music licensing Study on Thursday documenting principles that should guide congress in its plan for music licensing reform. Highlights of the 245 page report include performance rights for terrestrial radio broadcasts for sound recordings, partial withdrawal rights for PRO’s from from digital services, and fully federalizing Pre-1972 recordings. With these changes in place, songwriters and music rights holders alike will be able to more fairly compensated for their works.
Apple and Beats are building a brand new music streaming service. While the service will use several of the Beats Music features, the branding will be entirely designed by Apple. The service will be able to access both the iTunes and Beats Music catalog, and is expected to cost about $7.99/month. The software will work in the iTunes app as well as IOS, Apple TV, and Android.
Spotify plans to raise $500 million in new fundraising aided by Goldman Sachs. The Wall Street Journal expects this to postpone Spotify’s IPO back another year. This would be in addition to their existing $537 million invested from 17 other sources.
