In today's CMU Daily: US music publishers are stepping up their efforts to stop Spotify from reclassifying its main premium subscription as a bundle of music, podcasts and audiobooks, a move that will reduce its payments to songwriters. The publishers say they are now engaged in a “critical battle to prevent Spotify’s scheme from taking effect”

One Liners: NetEase x Kakao; Warner Music, Blake Cottage Trust, ADA Asia appointments; FKP Scorpio expands; Co-op Live set to open tonight; Skiddle publishes mental health research findings; Nilüfer Yanya tour dates; new music from Ella Eyre, Helen Love, Dilettante

Also today: Childish Gambino fends of ‘This Is America’ song-theft appeal; Commercial broadcasters criticise BBC podcast ads plan

Plus: UK Music's Andy Edwards talks creators' economic data

US music publishers ramp up the rhetoric against Spotify's royalty reducing bundling trick

The campaign against Spotify’s sneaky audiobook bundling plans in the US is gaining momentum, with the boss of the National Music Publishers Association declaring “it’s time to fight again”, and the Association Of Independent Music Publishers committing its “unequivocal support” for the NMPA as it embarks on a “critical battle to prevent Spotify’s scheme from taking effect”. 

In a new statement, the indie publishers have also changed their demand to Spotify. Previously they said that the streaming service should tell users how to change their account settings so that they would not be unknowingly subscribed to a controversial new bundle package that includes audiobooks and pays lower royalties to songwriters. Now they want Spotify to automatically make that change, so that users would have to actively opt in if they decided they want the bundle option. 

Spotify has been reshuffling its range of subscription products in the US, so that there is one subscription option that offers music and podcasts, and another that offers audiobooks. Meanwhile, the existing premium subscription option - which includes music, podcasts and audiobooks - is being defined as a bundle of those two other products. 

That is important because of the compulsory licence that sets out the payments streaming services must pay to music publishers and songwriters in the US. That licence has provisions for bundles, meaning that if Spotify reclassifies its main premium subscription as a bundle it will reduce what it has to pay publishers and songwriters on its core product. It’s been estimated that this move could result in $150 million of lost revenue. 

The compulsory licence - which is reviewed by the Copyright Royalty Board every five years - has frequently caused controversy. For the 2018-2022 period, many streaming services, including Spotify, tried to get the top line royalty rate set by the CRB reduced by taking the matter to court. They failed, although they did get some concessions around bundling in the process - the provisions that are now in the spotlight. 

With the compulsory licence for 2023-2027, ultimately a deal was done between the NMPA and DiMA, the trade body for the streaming services, which in theory brought to an end years of feuding between Spotify and the publishers. Until the recent revelation of how Spotify planned to use the bundling terms to its advantage, that is. 

The NMPA is considering its legal options for fighting Spotify's move, with CEO David Israelite writing on X on Friday, “Spotify has launched a major assault on songwriters. Again. Remember last time when we won an overdue rate increase and Spotify did everything in its power to try to deny songwriters that victory? We fought and we won. It’s time to fight again”.

The Association Of Independent Music Publishers originally hit out at Spotify's plan last month, but has now issued a new statement, prompted by that estimate that the move could result in $150 million in royalties being lost, what AIMP dubs as a “staggering” amount. 

Accusing Spotify of instigating “a deeply cynical move”, the indie publishers note that, because of the compulsory licence, they “are legally prevented from negotiating protections against bad-faith tactics such as this”. Such restrictions do not apply to publishers and collecting societies in most other countries, and do not apply to record labels and music distributors in the US. 

The compulsory licence is administered by collecting society the MLC. It remains to be seen what position, if any, it takes on Spotify's bundling tricks. The society has gone legal in a separate dispute over how Pandora has chosen to interpret the compulsory licence. In that legal battle, Pandora not only disagrees with the MLC’s opinion regarding how the licence is interpreted, but has also argued that the MLC shouldn’t even have an opinion. 

Either way, among publishers and songwriters, the campaign against Spotify’s bundling trick is only going to build. AIMP urges “all independent music publishers to join us in this stance and make their songwriters aware of this attack on their livelihood”. 

And, it adds, in taking this stance the music community is supported by a group of book authors concerned about Spotify's manoeuvres in the audiobook domain, with AIMP saying it is aligned with the Coalition Of Concerned Creators, an organisation set up by authors and literary agents last year. 

As part of its subscription reshuffle, Spotify will also put up the price of its main premium product - the one with music, podcasts and audiobooks - by a dollar. Previously AIMP said that the streaming service should alert all of its subscribers that they can avoid that price increase by opting for the music and podcast only subscription, which in turn pays higher royalties to songwriters. 

In its new statement, AIMP makes a different demand. “The right thing to do is to default existing subscribers to music-only accounts, and then give them the option to add-on the audiobook service for an additional $9.99 per month - Spotify’s proposed standalone rate for audiobooks. This ensures a proper, non-devalued royalty rate for both music and audiobook publishers and rightsholders, who will otherwise both be negatively affected by bundling”.

Spiritmuse Records // Label Manager (London Hybrid)

Your Culture // Campaign Management Assistant (Brighton)

Gondwana Records // Part Time Social Media, Online Marketing & Digital Content Manager (Manchester Hybrid)

Horizon is CMU's new weekly newsletter - published each Friday - that brings you a hand-picked selection of early-stage career opportunities from across the music industry.

Whether you're looking for your first job in music or you're ready to take a step up, Horizon is here to help you find your dream job faster.

👉 Click through to see the current selection.

ONE LINERS

Ella Eyre, FKP Scorpio, Nilüfer Yanya + more

DEALS

Chinese streaming service NetEase Cloud Music has signed a licensing agreement with South Korean entertainment company Kakao to distribute its music in China. “We are excited to partner with Kakao Entertainment and share the passion for delivering exceptional music experiences to users”, says Vivian Wei, Vice President Of Copyrights at NetEase Cloud Music. “This partnership further solidifies NetEase Cloud Music’s position as a prominent platform for international music, particularly resonating with our vibrant music community”.

APPOINTMENTS

Warner Music has appointed Sarah Ismail as Managing Director of its artist and label services business ADA in Asia. “I am incredibly honoured to be given this opportunity and humbled by the trust placed in me”, she says. “I am committed to growing ADA’s presence across Asia. I’m most excited to explore and create compelling offerings to empower our independent artists and partners in their journey. ADA Asia is set to forge new partnerships and continue to champion diverse talents”.

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has become a patron of The Blake Cottage Trust. The charity is currently restoring the only remaining house owned by poet William Blake in Felpham, Sussex. “William Blake has given me so much over the years and I want to repay the debt by helping to restore the cottage”, says Dickinson. “Despite his impact on the world, there is no centre for Blake, nowhere people can visit to see the place where he actually lived and worked during a key part of his life. I want to change this”.

The Night Time Industries Association has announced a partnership with Bradford At Night, which sees its Managing Director Elizabeth Murphy appointed as the first NTIA Night Time Economy Ambassador for the city. “I am honoured to serve as the NTIA Night Time Economy Ambassador for Bradford”, she says. “I am committed to working closely with NTIA, in my role as Managing Director of Bradford At Night, and alongside other stakeholders to promote a safe, diverse, and flourishing night-time economy that benefits everyone in our community”.

LIVE BUSINESS 

Live entertainment firm FKP Scorpio has announced the expansion of its exhibition, family entertainment, comedy and spoken word and special projects business. This will be managed by the UK-based FKP Scorpio Entertainment, led by James Cassidy and Barry Campbell. “Under James and Barry’s fantastic leadership, our FKP Entertainment company has had an amazing start in this exciting new growth sector”, says FKP Scorpio CEO Folkert Koopman. “We are not only acquiring great partners and content but are delivering results which we aim to emulate in all our key European markets”.

Co-op Live in Manchester is set to open tonight with a headline performance from Elbow. The venue has attempted to put on its first show several times over recent weeks, with artists including Olivia Rodrigo, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Take That, The Black Keys and Keane having to postpone, relocate or cancel performances. 

INDUSTRY PEOPLE

Ticketing company Skiddle has announced the early findings from a year long study into the mental health of UK music industry professionals. Over a third said that they felt financially insecure, while 28% said work-related stress had led to issues with substance misuse. 50% said that they experienced periods of poor mental health, while 30% said that they were unaware of avenues to access support tailored to the music industry. The research is supported by two such services - Music Minds Matter and Music Support. 

GIGS AND FESTIVALS

Nilüfer Yanya has announced UK tour dates in November and December, including a show at Here At Outernet on 3 Dec. Tickets go on sale on Friday. 

RELEASES

Ella Eyre has released new single ‘Ain’t No Love That Blind’. 

Helen Love have released new single ‘Stay With Me’. 

Dilettante has released new single ‘Fun’. Her new album ‘Life Of The Party’ is set for release on 11 Oct.

Appeals court upholds Childish Gambino song-theft ruling because of copyright registration error

The US Second Circuit Appeals Court has declined to overturn an earlier ruling in a song-theft dispute between Childish Gambino and Miami-based rapper Kidd Wes. The message from the appeals court is clear: if you're going to sue for copyright infringement in the US, don't screw up your copyright registrations. 

Kidd Wes, real name Emelike Nwosuocha, “registered the sound recording of his song but failed to register the musical work itself”, the appeal judges explain in their ruling. When he then accused Childish Gambino, real name Donald Glover, of ripping off his 2016 song ‘Made in America’, that claim centred on the musical work not the recording. Nwosuocha thus “failed to satisfy the registration requirement before bringing this suit”. 

It was Glover’s 2018 track ‘This Is America’ that Nwosuocha said was a rip off of his song. “The distinctive flow” heard in the newer track, his lawsuit claimed, “is unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical, to the distinct and unique flow” he had employed when “recording his vocal performance of his rapping of the hook to his copyrighted work”. 

Last year a judge dismissed Nwosuocha’s lawsuit, partly because of registration issues, and partly because “a cursory comparison” of the two songs “reveals that the content of the choruses is entirely different and not substantially similar”. Nwosuocha then appealed. 

Copyright is an automatic right, meaning a creator enjoys control over their creative work as soon as that work is created, no registration is required. However, under US copyright law, it is advisable to register works with the Copyright Office, especially if you are planning on enforcing any copyrights in court. 

The Copyright Alliance explains, “you must file an application for registration before you can sue someone for infringing your copyright, even if the infringement has already occurred”. And if you want to seek statutory damages - so that you can claim up to $150,000 in damages oblivious of any actual financial loss - ”the copyrighted work must be registered before infringement commences”. 

Copyright law treats musical works and sound recordings separately, so that a track has two copyrights in it. Therefore, artists and songwriters, or their business partners, need to make sure both rights are registered. This is where Nwosuocha failed. 

In his appeal, Nwosuocha argued that copyright law says that infringement lawsuits can still be filed even if there are inaccuracies in a registration, providing those inaccuracies were a mistake. However, the appeals court said that failing to register the musical work wasn’t a mere inaccuracy. 

“The distinction between a sound recording and a musical work is not just an administrative classification”, the court wrote. The distinction between the two kinds of copyright is important because they are “different artistic works that can be copyrighted by different creators and are infringed in different ways”. 

Having ruled that way on the copyright registration issue, the appeals court didn't even consider whether ‘Made in America’ and ‘This Is America’ were sufficiently similar to constitute copyright infringement. However, they added, if the lower court judge decided they were not, that was also a “sufficient reason” to dismiss Nwosuocha's lawsuit. 

In recent years, US courts have generally set a high bar for artists who accuse other artists of ripping off their work - concluding that, where two songs simply share some short musical segments, those segments in isolation don't enjoy copyright protection, meaning it is unlikely there is a case for copyright infringement. 

This means that Nwosuocha's legal action was already ambitious. Though, it still would have been better to ensure the registration paperwork had been properly done before filing any lawsuit.

Op-ed: UK Music’s Director of Research Andy Edwards on the value of music creators’ economic data

UK Music has launched its annual This Is Music Creators’ Survey. The trade body’s Director of Research Andy Edwards explains how responses are used, both in contributing to its calculation of the music industry’s overall contribution to the UK economy and identifying key issues facing creators

UK Music first decided to start collecting economic data on the music industry in 2012. Governments produce data on the economy and various industry sectors to help estimate the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country. Such data is highly influential, both at a national level and globally. The problem was the creative industries, and the music industry specifically, are badly served by the existing industry and occupational codes that are used to calculate the GDP. This meant that the music industry’s contribution to the economy was undervalued.

As UK Music’s Director of Research, it’s my role to work with industry to collate the data and information needed to quantify the annual Gross Value Added (GVA), exports, and employment figures for the music industry. In producing this report, I rely on numerous sources to pull the numbers together and make sense of the factors driving the music economy. One of the biggest challenges is quantifying the work of music creators, because it is such a vast, diverse group of individuals, including artists, musicians, vocalists, DJs, songwriters, composers, producers, and engineers. Individual creators can earn very different amounts and generate their incomes in many ways.

Every year UK Music runs the This Is Music Creators’ Survey as a critical means of gathering this information. We work with UK Music member organisations (AIM, BPI, FAC, Ivors Academy, MMF, MPA, MPG, MU, PPL and PRS for Music) to promote the survey. 

This data is then used to help model creators’ income and this contributes to a total GVA figure for the music industry. 

Setlist Podcast: Arena ticket levy by September, MPs demand

In this week's Setlist Podcast: Chris Cooke and Andy Malt discuss the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee recommending that a levy on ticket sales for large scale shows be implemented by September and that the government should instigate a VAT cut for grassroots music venues, plus the concerns surrounding the launch of a new SXSW festival in London.

🎧 Click here to listen - or search for 'Setlist Podcast'

Media companies hit out at plan for BBC to sell ads alongside its podcasts

A group of 20 media companies and organisations have written to UK Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to formally criticise the BBC’s proposal that it start selling advertising alongside its podcasts when they appear on third party platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts. 

Doing so, says the open letter, would likely have “a significant adverse impact on fair and effective competition in the UK podcast market”. 

The BBC competing with commercial players for podcast advertising budgets, it adds, “will make it even more difficult for producers, broadcasters and publishers to generate a reasonable return on their investment, while generating income for the BBC that is unlikely to make a significant contribution to its overall budget”. 

With the BBC's core licence fee funding having declined in recent years in real terms - and some reckoning that the licence fee should be phased out entirely in the relatively near future - BBC bosses are having to consider other ways to generate income. 

One proposal is that, via its commercial division BBC Studios, the BBC sell ads around its podcasts when they appear on other platforms. The same podcasts would continue to be available ad-free within the BBC Sounds app. 

It's not surprising that other media companies who also rely on advertising to fund their podcasting output are not impressed with the proposal. Among those signing the letter to Frazer are radio companies Global and Bauer, newspaper publishers DMG, News UK, The Guardian and The Telegraph, plus some bespoke podcast companies like Goalhanger and Podmasters. 

Although podcasts have surged in popularity in recent years, generating income from such content remains a challenge. The letter says “podcasting has seen strong growth in recent years, with the choice and quality of content available helping to drive more listening and higher revenues”. However, in the UK “advertising revenue is already underdeveloped compared to other countries”, with total revenues generated by podcast advertising in 2022 at around £76 million, compared to the BBC's total income of £5.7 billion.

“The BBC’s presence already distorts this market when compared to almost all other countries”, the letter claims. And the BBC selling ads around its podcast content would create further challenges. It would also give BBC Sounds an unfair competitive advantage over the other podcast platforms, in that people would be more likely to listen to BBC content in the broadcaster’s own app if that was a way of avoiding being exposed to ads. 

The BBC actually already sells advertising around some of its content via BBC Studios, in particular with the UKTV channels that it operates. However, says the letter, that’s different, because those channels mainly air archive programmes, are run separately from the core BBC operations, and exist to make money rather than meet the BBC’s public service obligations. With podcasts, the BBC is proposing to sell advertising around its new public service content. 

The letter then notes that BBC funding at large is under review, but expresses deep concern about any plans for the BBC to fund its core output through advertising sales, suggesting that the podcasts proposal could be a sneaky first step to achieving that. “We do not believe that such significant changes should be introduced incrementally and by stealth”, they write. 

Concluding, the letter asks Frazer to review the BBC's podcasting proposal - and the concerns it raises - as “a matter of urgency”, adding that it would be helpful if media regulator OfCom would conduct “a review of the audio and podcast market in the UK, both the content itself and the platforms on which they sit, with a focus on the impact of the BBC”.