Music Licensing

Analysis: Signs of Intelligent Life in the Music Business

Authored by Paul Sweeting on May 26, 2008 - 5:56pm.

Required reading: "Should Societies Pursue Equity?" a white paper released last week by Will Page and David Touve. Page is the executive director of research for the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society--Performing Rights Society Alliance, the U.K.-based royalty collection agency for songwriters and music publishers. Touve is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University and a former online music entrepreneur. The white paper asks the musical question: Could a licensing system for music start-ups based on giving performing rights societies equity in the company that would pay out either at the time of an acquisition or as a percentage of future revenue, in exchange for a blanket license to use the society's catalog, help resolve the current legal stalemate between rights owners and innovators.

Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Streamline Digital Music Licensing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 8, 2006 - 5:20pm.

Washington - Lawmakers on Thursday introduced a bill that would create a streamlined blanket licensing system for digital music services. The Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA), introduced by Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Howard Berman (D-CA), has the support of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and Digital Music Association (DiMA) -- which represents big webcasters like AOL, RealNetworks, Live365 and Yahoo.

Indie Music Licensing Firm Pump Audio Raises First Round Funds

Authored by dmw on May 1, 2006 - 7:04pm.

Hudson Valley, N.Y. - Pump Audio, a provider of licensed independent music for TV and advertising producers, announced on Monday that it has raised an undisclosed amount of first round venture capital financing from Greycroft Partners and High Peaks Venture Partners. Founded in 2001, New York-based Pump Audio provides an online search engine for its catalog of tens of thousands of songs from independent musicians, which have been licensed from customers such as MTV Networks, HBO, NBC Studios and Saatchi & Saatchi. The company will use the funds for product development and international expansion.