Archive
@rachelrwithers: Amazon Owes Wikipedia Big-Time — Artist Rights Watch
Amazon gave $1 million to Wikipedia–and gets way more out of the deal than the charity.
via @rachelrwithers: Amazon Owes Wikipedia Big-Time — Artist Rights Watch
@crispinhunt: Critics of Article 13 are Weaving a Narrative with No Relationship to Fact — Artist Rights Watch
[An excellent post by songwriter and BASCA chair Crispin Hunt on the remarkable disinformation campaign being waged by legacy tech companies against safe harbor reform in Europe.] A recent article by Rhett Jones, which appeared in Gizmodo, perfectly encapsulated the feverish disinformation campaign around Article 13 being undertaken by US tech companies and their minions. […]
@richardjburgess: The So-Called ‘Local Radio Freedom Act’ Is Actually an Anti-Creator, Anti-Property-Rights Bill — Artist Rights Watch
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and its army of highly paid lobbyists are asking Members of Congress to cosponsor a bill that they have the nerve to call the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA). In past Congresses, many lawmakers have been deceived into cosponsoring this legislation, being told that it is a non-controversial sense-of-Congress resolution aimed at protecting local radio stations. In fact, it is an anti-creator, anti-property-rights bill.
The MTP Podcast: Revenue? What Revenue? Don’t be fooled on royalty audits vs. financial audits
BLANCHE
Whoever you are…I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
From A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams
From Highlights of Managing Change under the Music Modernization Act’s Mechanical Licensing Collective (footnotes omitted. A version of this article appears as How Will the Music Modernization Act’s Mechanical Licensing Collective Work? in 34 Entertainment Law & Finance 1 (No. 9, Dec. 2018.)
Audits: Only the MLC may audit the blanket licensees. Only copyright owners may audit the MLC. However, audits must be conducted by certified public accountants and those auditors are obligated to look for overpayments—which probably violates a CPA’s duty of loyalty. As Warner Music Group’s Ron Wilcox testified to the CRJs, “Because royalty audits require exten- sive technical and industry-specific expertise, in WMG’s experience a CPA certification is not generally a requirement for con- ducting such audits. To my knowledge, some of the most experienced and knowledgeable royalty auditors in the music industry are not CPAs.”
It is also important to note that the collective may only audit once a year for the prior three years. Given that there will be bil- lions of transactions subject to audit (and eventually trillions in a three year period), it is unlikely that CPAs will be conducting census level audits. Projections and lump sum payments are likely, and lump sum payments tend to be distributed in the old- school method of market share distributions.
Is Self Auditing Hazardous to Your Health? musictechpolicy.com/2014/06/01/is-s…to-your-health/
Songwriter Liberty and Audit Rights Under Section 115: Music Licensing Study Filing musictechpolicy.com/2014/06/10/song…g-study-filing/
Attestation Agreements AICPA
Generally Accepted Auditing Standards AICPA
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
How to Fix The Music Modernization Act’s Flawed “Audit” Clause musictech.solutions/2018/03/12/how-…d-audit-clause/
Five Things Congress Could Do for Music Creators That Wouldn’t Cost the Taxpayer a Dime Part 3: Create an Audit Right for Songwriters artistrightswatch.com/2018/12/29/pos…r-songwriters/
Guest Post by Keith Bernstein: Holy GAAP! Publishers Not Getting the Upside musictechpolicy.com/2016/02/22/gues…ing-the-upside/
The MTP Podcast: The Truth About Streaming Royalties
Chris Castle on how the streaming royalty allocation guarantees a declining royalty for artists
SHOW NOTES
The Trichordist Streaming Price Bible for 2018
Arithmetic on the Internet: The Ethical Pool Solution to Streaming Royalty Allocation
@BBCtrending: The mystery tracks being ‘forced’ on Spotify users–another explanation
Laura Kobylecky, Making Fake Art: “1984”, The New Rembrandt, and The “Fake Artist”
The MTP Podcast: When is a Pledge Not a Pledge? The PledgeMusic crisis
Chris Castle discusses the current crisis with PledgeMusic payments.
SHOW NOTES
PledgeMusic: Once a Crowdfunding Haven For Artists, Now Owes them Thousands of Dollars–Billboard www.billboard.com/articles/busines…ds-late-payments
Digital Aggregator Deals: Is the New Boss Worse Then the Old Boss?
musictechpolicy.com/2012/02/01/read…n-the-old-boss/
What is the Difference Between Dischargeable and Nondischargeable Debts in Bankruptcy?
www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia…ts-bankruptcy.html
Which Debts are Discharged in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?
www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia…-7-bankruptcy.html
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for Small Business
www.thebankruptcysite.org/resources/ba…sinesses.htm
Secured vs. Unsecured Debt in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
www.thebankruptcysite.org/resources/ba…7-bankruptcy
Bankruptcy in the UK
Civil Investigative Demands
MTP Podcast: Spotify’s Direct Public Offering
Chris Castle explains Spotify’s direct public offering (compared to a traditional IPO) and commentary on how the stock is performing (NOT investment advice).
According to the Spotify Case Study:
As of March 28, 2018, the average first-day return for 2018 IPOs was 13.2%. [4] On April 3, 2018, when Spotify opened for trading on the NYSE, the NYSE’s initial reference price that was published to the market pre-trading was US$132.00 per share the opening price of the shares was US$165.90 per share, or approximately 25.7% higher than the NYSE reference price. Trading in Spotify’s shares closed at a price of US$149.01 per share, which was approximately 10.2% below the opening price and 12.9% above the reference price….Spotify disclosed recent high and low sales prices per share in recent private transactions on the cover page of the preliminary prospectus and the final prospectus [to arrive at the reference price of $132].
Spotify Case Study: Structuring and Executing a Direct Listing
MusicTech Solutions: Why Will Spotify’s Price Tank?
Barrons: Spotify Stock Is Up This Year, but Analysts Say Don’t Get Too Excited
Spotify stock, up almost 6% this year, have dropped about 27% in the last 3 months, more than twice as far as theS&P 500’s decline.
On Monday, Stifel’s John Egbert reiterated a Buy rating on the stock, while lowering his target price to $170 from $210. That’s in part based on his estimate of the fair value of its stake inTencent Music Entertainment (TME). But he also trimmed some margin estimates based on the likely costs of global expansion.
“We remain bullish on Spotify’s subscriber growth prospects and believe the company could deliver upside to our 2019 subscriber addition forecast of 24 million, particularly if newly (and soon-to-be) launched markets become material,” Egbert wrote.
Deutsche Bank ’s Lloyd Walmsley maintained a Hold rating on the shares, cutting his price target to $135 from $152 in a Sunday note. Nomura Instinet’s Mark Kelley, meanwhile, wrote Sunday that Spotify was “among the most oversold stocks in our coverage.”
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