YouTube underpays industry $1bn a year, royalty rates to change, and more
Here’s all the music industry news you need to know this morning.
UK Musician representatives, the MU and FAC, along with the MMF have joined forces to create a sample, long form management agreement in response to the often unfair terms found in unchecked contracts brought forward by members of the three organisations. – via RotD
DMCA Helps YouTube Underpay Music Industry Up To $1 Billion A Year, Claims New Study from the Phoenix Center. “YouTube pays the recording industry well-below market rates for this heavy and on-demand use of music by relying on those ‘safe harbor’ provisions.” – via Hypebot
Lily Allen has claimed she “can live off my royalties comfortably if no one ever bought an album of mine again” after being criticised on Twitter for bemoaning Brexit. – via Twitter
Live Nation Australasia has announced its official airline is Virgin Australia. Virgin Australia joins a limited number of exclusive partnerships including Telstra, National Australia Bank, American Express, Flight Centre, Europcar and Hilton Hotels and Resorts. – via Live Nation
Being On Official Spotify Playlists Has A Lasting Effect, Even For Unknown Artists – via Hypebot
The Copyright Royalty Board is opening up hearings to set a new mechanical royalty rate. The CRB will hear testimony from both music creators and music users and will make its decision in December 2017. – via Hypebot
LCD Soundsystem Is Investigating How Many Bots Bought Tickets to Their Sold-out NYC Shows – via Vulture
Twitter stops counting @ Replies towards its 140 characters on web and mobile – via TechCrunch
Music business reacts as the UK formally begins Brexit negotiations.Colin Schaverien of Prolifica Management: ‘It’s hard to think of any positives’. Paul Reed, general manager of the Association of Independent Festivals: “The process is likely to be fraught with uncertainty, in particular for the live music business” – via Billboard
A report has found that Apple Music attracted 40.7m monthly unique users to its service in the US in February, while Pandora had 32.6m users and Spotify had 30.4m unique users. – via TechCrunch
Def Jam CEO Steve Bartels to deliver keynote at Midem – via MBW
Vivendi to host cross-cultural festival in London at Universal Music’s new Kings Cross base – via MBW
George Michael was buried alongside his mother yesterday – 94 days after he died – in a funeral shrouded in secrecy. – via Mirror
Victoria Beckham has recorded a Carpool Karaoke skit with James Cordon. – via Billboard
Jack Stephens joins Spotify as Creator Partnerships Manager – via MBW
Calvin Harris’s next single features Ariana Grande, Pharrell Williams and Young Thug – The Fader
Drake has blamed food poisoning from bad sushi for forcing him to cancel a Dutch gig for a third time – via NME
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.