Music videos service Vevo is facing a backlash from independent publishers, led by Songs Music Publishing CEO Matt Pincus. In a column for The Wrap, he criticises the company’s business model. “Vevo doesn’t pay us because the major record companies have warranted that they have the right to license songs to Vevo on behalf of publishers, backing up that claim with an indemnity,” he writes. “So, Vevo pays the major record labels, and the record labels take on the responsibility to pass through an accounting to the publishers, as they do with iTunes track sales. The problem is, the labels don’t do that. They simply sit on the money.” Pincus goes on to draw comparisons with the recent settlement between the NMPA and YouTube, which is now paying publishers a slice of ad revenues around their content. “My company publishes a current Top 10 song, ‘Rack City’ performed by the rapper Tyga. We are getting paid directly from YouTube for a video that a kid made of himself lip-synching the song with his grandmother dancing in the background. Somewhat nonsensically, we are not getting paid from the official video featuring Tyga that was produced by Universal Records. Seems illogical to me.”
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…