From Beats’ $3bn acquisition by Apple to Spotify’s long-expected IPO, digital music exits are provoking increasing amounts of unrest from artists and managers over whether labels’ share of the spoils will be passed on to creators. And that’s on top of the long-running debate about how non-attributable advance payments from digital services could/should be divided. This week, the International Music Managers Forum (IMMF) set out its views on “global pricing transparency”, including advances and equity. “Even in cases where the money is non-attributable [to specific tracks] it should be objectively evaluated and shared pro-rata with the creators,” claimed the body in a statement. “Non-attributable does not mean unpayable. If non-attributable truly meant ‘unpayable’, how would the money have ended up being attributed to rights holders in the first place?” With SoundCloud negotiating equity deals and competition intensifying in the streaming music market, it’s an issue that isn’t going away any time soon.
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In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…