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Exploration is a digital rights administration company assisting copyright owners in compiling the information needed to get paid by the platforms that are obligated to pay them. We work with parties to maximize efficiency and profitability and are proud to enjoy great relationships with all.
Episodes
Friday Feb 12, 2021
Friday Feb 12, 2021
Spotify is set to launch a new site called Noteable, dedicated for writers and composers to receive news updates on relevant products and services as well as chances to connect. The company created a songwriters hub last December on its service and provided publishing analytics and songwriter profile pages to its Instagram video series over the last couple of years.
After striking deals with Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December, video app TikTok announced a global licensing deal with Universal Music Group (UMG) this week. As a result, TikTok users will now be able to incorporate clips from UMG’s full catalog of music. The news immediately follows Universal pulling its catalog from TikTok’s biggest rival, Triller.
According to a new economic impact report released this week by the RIAA, the US music industry’s total impact on the country’s economy grew to $170 billion in 2018, generating an additional 50 cents of revenue on every dollar earned for adjacent industries such as tourism, hospitality and marketing. It “charts a course for state and federal policymakers to leverage music’s ability to produce strong economic growth and high-paying domestic jobs,” said Josh Friedlander, senior vp research and economics at the RIAA.
"Ways And Means" - Rev Peyton's Big Damn Band: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw1g_2NPjoI
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Friday Feb 05, 2021
Friday Feb 05, 2021
Based on the latest financial numbers published by Google and parent company Alphabet, YouTube’s advertising revenues hit $6.89 billion in Q4 2020, up 46% year-on-year. That number accounted for just over 12% of Alphabet’s overall revenues of $56.9 billion for the quarter.
In the same quarter of 2020, Spotify announced that 25% of its total user base engaged with podcast content in the period, and podcast consumption nearly doubled year-over-year. The company also reached 155 million Premium subscribers - up 24% - adding a record 30 million for the year.
A consortium led by Tencent acquired an additional 10% in Universal Music Group (UMG) as announced last week. This takes the Tencent consortium’s holding in UMG from 10% to 20% and reduces UMG parent Vivendi’s ownership stake in the music firm to 80%. Vivendi hinted that the proposed IPO of UMG could happen this year, or in “early 2022 at the latest”.
Minefields Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKIEUdAMtrQ
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#YouTubeAds #SpotifyPodcast #Tencent #UMG #Exploration #MusicIndustryNews
Friday Jan 29, 2021
Friday Jan 29, 2021
In a letter to the YouTube community, CEO Susan Wojcicki stated that, over the last three years, YouTube has paid out more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies. More creators are also gaining the ability to monetize, with the number of channels joining the YouTube Partner Program in 2020 having doubled over the previous year.
The services division at Apple hit a record quarterly revenue high of nearly $15.8 billion, up 24% from the $12.7 billion it brought in during the same period a year earlier. The group specifically consists of services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, App Store, and other software products, and it is the second-largest division behind iPhones.
A newly formed acquisition company, Liberty Media Acquisition Corporation (LMAC), raised $575 million in its IPO in the US last week. A press release by the company stated that LMAC “intends to search for a target in the media, digital media, music, entertainment, communications, telecommunications, and technology industries”. Will the next target acquisition be a music company, and if so, who will it be?
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#YTPartnerProgram #AppleRevenueUp #LMAC #Exploration #MusicIndustryNews
Friday Jan 22, 2021
Friday Jan 22, 2021
The Justice Department recently decided to leave the 80-year-old music-industry consent decrees that govern the public performances of music unchanged, says Makan Delrahim, the outgoing Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division. Performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI as well as the music publishing community have called for changes to the decrees, arguing that they are outdated in the digital age and favor broadcasters to the detriment of creators.
BMI has also decided to change its royalty distribution schedule to help songwriters, composers, and publishers during the pandemic by evenly spacing out quarterly royalty distributions in 2022 every three months. This is set to create a balanced payment schedule throughout the year. 2021 will also be a transition year of five distributions, rather than four, in order to shift to a slightly accelerated time frame.
According to reports by The Information, Apple is in talks of introducing a subscription product to its podcasting business as it faces heated competition from tech and media companies like Spotify, Amazon, and SiriusXM. Podcasts have always been free to access on the platform and the business has long been funded largely through advertising sales.
Katy Perry concludes Inauguration Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZ8XCobUUM
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#ConsentDecreesUnchanged #BMI #ApplePodcast #ExplorationWeekly #MusicIndustryNews
Friday Jan 15, 2021
Friday Jan 15, 2021
This week, The MLC consulted with the US Copyright Office (USCO) concerning the rates and terms applied under the new blanket mechanical license. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is currently undergoing remand proceedings as a result of the appeal of the Phonorecords III rate proceeding by digital service providers. Once there is a final determination of rates and terms pursuant to the remand, those final rates and terms will be used by The MLC and will also apply retroactively back to January 1, 2018.
Spanish-language broadcaster Univision is launching a free, ad-supported streaming service called PrendeTV - the first such service built exclusively for Hispanic audiences in the US. It is set to debut in the first quarter of the year with some 10,000 hours of Spanish-language programming, including novelas, comedies, global TV series, sports and feature films.
YouTube has now, by default, turned on post-roll ads (ads that appear at the conclusion of a clip) on all monetized videos that are longer than 10 minutes. According to Search Engine Journal, all three formats (pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads) are turned on by default. These can also be switched off during the upload flow on future videos, or on existing videos within the monetization tab.
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#MLC #Univision #PrendeTV #YouTube #ExplorationWeekly
Friday Jan 08, 2021
Friday Jan 08, 2021
The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) has officially started administering the new blanket mechanical license established by the Music Modernization Act of 2018. US digital audio services operating under this license will be required to send monthly usage reports and mechanical royalty payments to The MLC, which will then match the usage activity to the appropriate musical works owners and distribute the royalties it has received to music publishers, musical works administrators and self-administered songwriters, composers and lyricists.
MRC Data’s latest report states that US music streaming in 2020 has set a new streaming record with a 17% increase to 872.6 billion streams. Lil Baby led the record with a total of 3.9 billion on-demand streams for its tracks. In addition, the year’s most-consumed song in the US was Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” with 1.3 billion streams and 1.7 billion audience impressions at radio.
Lastly, SiriusXM warns of a $1 billion non-cash impairment charge for its Pandora music streaming service, due mainly to the impact of per-play royalty payment costs. CEO Jennifer Witz points to the uncertainty of this year, increased competition, and the potential for higher royalty costs to drive lower margins and have a “meaningful” impact on Pandora’s profitability over the coming years.
Exploration:
https://exploration.io/exploration-weekly-the-mlc-begins-full-operations-2020-us-music-streaming-sets-new-record-siriusxm-suspects-1b-impairment-charge-for-pandora/
https://www.udiscovermusic.com/in-depth-features/film-musicals/
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MLC #USMusicStreaming #SiriusXM #Pandora #ExplorationWeekly
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Friday Dec 25, 2020
Check out major music industry news you may have missed this past week!
PROs ASCAP and BMI launched SONGVIEW this week, a data platform free to access by the public, providing music users with an authoritative view of copyright ownership and administration shares from both repertoires. The database breaks down ownership shares by ASCAP and BMI share percentages as well as shares listed as Other, if applicable.
French media conglomerate Vivendi announced on Friday, December 18 that a consortium led by China’s Tencent will exercise its option to acquire a further 10% stake in Universal Music Group (UMG), raising the consortium’s holding to 20%. The Tencent deals put a floor valuation of EUR30 billion ($36.9 billion) on UMG. The new blanket mechanical license established by the Music Modernization Act of 2018 will cover the use of musical works in the US by eligible digital audio services, starting January 1, 2021.
Digital service providers (DSPs) are preparing to secure the license by working with two new organizations created by the MMA: The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC), which is responsible for administering this new blanket license, and the Digital Licensee Coordinator (DLC), which is responsible for representing the digital audio services that will be operating under the new blanket license.
Random Ramblings
Explore the Billboard's year-end charts.
Taylor Swift makes a record by claiming the first two spots of the Billboard Top Album Sales chart with "Evermore" and "Folklore" albums.
Spotify trends analysis.
Queen’s road to critical acclaim.
Pentatonix put their signature spin on Rodgers and Hammerstein's “My Favorite Things".
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#ASCAP #BMI #SONGVIEW #Tencent #DSP #TheMLC #Exploration
Friday Dec 18, 2020
Friday Dec 18, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
Tuesday Dec 08, 2020
The Music Industry Report – 2020 drops this Thursday, December 10th.
To learn more about the project and how it came to be, plus to receive the free publication, sign up to receive an advance copy:
www.exploration.io/music-industry-report-2020
This newsletter serves as the second in a multi-part series in which we present our findings. Catch up by reading Takeaways Pt. 1 from last week’s newsletter.
- Independent live music venues took a hit due to COVID-19.
- People feel unprepared for The Mechanical Licensing Collective.
- Rock music is the top genre to experience live.
- The live music workforce faces big setbacks with reasons to be optimistic.
Are you enjoying this series? Please show your support for the Music Health Alliance, a non-profit helping music creators navigate the healthcare system.
Venmo: @MUSICHEALTHALLIANCE
#MusicIndustryReport2020 #Exploration #NashvilleSongwritersAssociationInternational #GlobalSongwritersConnection #TheCountryMusicAssociation #NashvilleEntrepreneurCenter #BelmontUniversity #Lightning100FM #HippieRadio94.5 #NashvilleAreaChamberofCommerce
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Last week we introduced The Music Industry Report – 2020, a market research project about the music industry. To learn more about the project and how it came to be, plus to sign up to receive the free publication on December 10th, sign up to receive an advance copy:
www.exploration.io/music-industry-…oration_report/
Exploration Weekly - December 4, 2020
Key takeaways include:
• Hiring and Job Creation: Diversity has to be a commitment at all levels, especially in management, in order for the music industry to improve. It has to be built into the infrastructure of the music industry for it to last.
• Intentionality: #BlackoutTuesday was the key to opening the door to conversations about diversity in many spaces, but representation is still an issue.
• Ownership: Ownership of record labels, of space like the National Museum of African American Music, and of space for Black creatives, is crucial for an equitable industry.
• Sustainable Opportunities: Creating sustainable and repeatable business opportunities and infrastructure for creators is necessary for representation and inclusivity to endure.
Are you enjoying this series? Please show your support for the Music Health Alliance, a non-profit helping music creators navigate the healthcare system.
Venmo: @MUSICHEALTHALLIANCE
#MusicIndustryReport2020 #Exploration #NashvilleSongwritersAssociationInternational #GlobalSongwritersConnection #TheCountryMusicAssociation #NashvilleEntrepreneurCenter #BelmontUniversity #Lightning100FM #HippieRadio94.5 #NashvilleAreaChamberofCommerce