Songwriters should watch out for new unrealized capital gains taxes.

The "risk free rate" is often thought of as the rate of interest paid on US government bonds. That interest rate is thought of as risk free because it is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Want to know where you can find that full faith and credit?

When the dust settled after the last mechanical royalty rate setting we saw the Copyright Royalty Board approving two different settlements for mechanical royalties. The royalty rate for physical mechanicals and permanent downloads get a significant rate increase and the royalty rate for streaming mechanicals got a theoretical rate increase.

Recent data suggests that songwriters and artists are financing the necessities in the face of persistent inflation the same way as everyone else-with their credit cards. This can lead to a very deep hole, particularly if it turns out that this inflation is actually the leading edge of stagflation.

You are no doubt aware that the Copyright Royalty Judges handed down a final rule adopting the settlement covering streaming mechanicals reached by the major publishers and the richest and most dominant corporations in the history of Planet Earth: Apple, Amazon, Google, Pandora and Spotify.

FRANKIE FOUR FINGERS It's a nice story, but it's just that. Just a story. from Snatch, written by Guy Richie You may have noticed that there is a multi-part Netflix miniseries called "The Playlist" that is based on this book: "The Spotify Play: How CEO and Founder Daniel Ek Beat Apple, Google and Amazon in the race for audio dominance."

Because streaming playlists are an equivalent to broadcast radio, there is a question as to whether governments should regulate streaming services operating in their countries to require local content rules. Implementing such rules could benefit local performers and songwriters in an otherwise unsustainable environment.

Emmanuel Legrand prepared an excellent and important study for the European Grouping of Societies of Authors and Composers (GESAC) that identifies crucial effects of streaming on culture, creatives and especially songwriters. The study highlights the cultural effects of streaming on the European markets, but it would be easy to extend these harms globally as Emmanuel observes.

MusicTechPolicy readers will have seen my post about the interest rate paid by the MLC on the rather sizable black box of “unmatched” funds sitting at a bank account (rumored to be City National Bank in Nashville). That rate was modernized in the Music Modernization Act to be a floating rate, the Federal short term interest rate.

Being aware of the inflationary economic environment is a critical issue for songwriters in the US who are in the middle of a government rate setting proceeding before the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington.

The new statutory rate for songs on compact discs and vinyl will require labels to check their royalty accounting programs. But there’s also a question of how to address what I call the “controlled comp squeeze” caused by the collision of rate fixing dates with the new rate as applied to outside writers. 

One of the sure signs of a bubble is when those invested in the bubble narrative deny the obvious. Southern California real estate is replete with examples. Another sign is when there are too many people invested in the narrative.

Do you really think that streaming will go on forever as the configuration of choice for consumers? Has that ever happened before?

Reading the tea leaves, it looks like RIAA Chief Mitch Glazier understand how to make the real on frozen mechanicals. Can he bring it home?

Ed Christman comes up with a rough justice quantification of the impact on songwriter and music publisher revenues in light of controlled compositions clauses in recording contracts that apply to (a) songs written and recorded by artists, or (b) songs by “outside writers” if and only if the artist can get the outside writer to accept the controlled compositions terms and rates.

There are some decades in which nothing happens and some weeks in which decades happen. This was one of those weeks.

It's becoming more obvious that the Mechanical Licensing Collective is not succeeding in its Congressional mandate to build the definitive music rights database so that all songwriters get paid.

If you've tried to get a vinyl record pressed in the last few years, one thing is very obvious: There is no capacity in the current manufacturing base to accommodate all the orders-unless your name is Adele or Taylor Swift, of course.

If you've been pitched to lend your name to an NFT platform or promotion, or if you are an NFT promoter who wants to attract artists to your program, there are some issues that should get addressed.

Spotify has one big governance problem that permeates its governance like a putrid miasma in the abattoir: “Dual-class stock” sometimes referred to as “supervoting” stock. If you’ve never heard the term, buckle up.

Both the consumer price index and the producer price index increased this month and the Federal Reserve is making noises like it intends to increase interest rates and reduce what is called the Fed's "balance sheet".

I started to write this post in the pre-Neil Young era and I almost feel like I could stop with the title. But there's a lot more to it, so let's look at the many ways Spotify is a fail on the Social part of ESG.

Spotify has an ESG problem, and a closer look may offer insights into a wider problem in the tech industry as a whole. If a decade of destroying artist and songwriter revenues isn’t enough to get your attention, maybe the Neil Young and Joe Rogan imbroglio will. But a minute’s analysis shows you that Spotify was already an ESG fail well before Neil Young’s ultimatum.

Since a cost of living adjustment for frozen mechanicals only kicks in if there’s an increase in the CPI, how crazy is it not to at least ask?

Economic indicators confirm that the plan to freeze mechanicals at 2006 levels looks more insane with each passing day.

Understand “real” vs. “nominal” mechanical rates-what you experience vs. what they tell you.

New inflation data shows that the Copyright Royalty Board must index song royalties.

Index statutory mechanical royalties before inflation hits.

Copyright Office Misses an Opportunity to Prioritize Building a Permanent Asset.

Let’s find a solution to the wrong-headed CRB frozen mechanical approach.

The Copyright Royalty Board should take inflation into their decision on mechanical royalty rates.

“Reasonably diligent search” guidelines for orphan works shine a light on what is expected of streaming services hiding behind the MMA safe harbor giveaway.

SoundCloud is the first music service to adopt a version of the ethical pool principles in a user-centric royalty model and I have to applaud the effort. It's a really good first step.

Title I of the Music Modernization Act established a blanket mechanical royalty license, the mechanical licensing collective to create the musical works database and collect royalties, the Digital Licensee Coordinator (which represents the music users under the blanket license) and a system where the services pay for the millions evidently required to operate the MLC and create the musical works database (which may happen eventually but which currently is the Harry Fox Agency accused via API).

This is a recording of a webinar about the Mechanical Licensing Collective that I did with Abby North and Gwen Seale, sponsored by Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, Austin Texas Musicians and Austin Music Foundation.

There is a drumbeat starting in some quarters, particularly in the UK, for the government to inject itself into private contracts and cause a forgiveness of unrecouped balances in artist agreements after a date certain-as if by magic.

One of the many U.S.-centric shortcomings of Title I of the Music Modernization Act (that created the Mechanical Licensing Collective, the safe harbor giveaway and the blanket license) is that it pretty much ignores the entire complex system of content management organizations outside the U.S.

Livestreaming was intended to be temporary. It was a bridge between a pre and post COVID reality. But it's not. The biggest of Big Tech companies intend that it is permanent and they mean to control it.

If you've been following the evolution of the "aircraft carrier" revision of the U.S. Copyright Act styled the "Music Modernization Act," you will remember that America now has a blanket license for the mechanical reproduction of songs (or will have as of 1/1/21). 

"Sick of my money funding crap." A Fan "These companies are taking power away from listeners, because listeners don't have any say where their money goes," Keating said. "If you only listen to me, I should get all the percentage of the money you spend on music."