2015: the year music industry licensing contracts popped up all over the web. The latest is SoundCloud’s deal with US music publishers, which has been published by Digital Music News and subsequently other sites. Among the key points are a deal to pay publishers their pro-rata share of either 10.5% of SoundCloud’s revenues from its free service or 22% of the total amount expensed by SoundCloud on musical sound recording rights (whichever is greater); plus a share of either 10.5% of revenues from additional subscription features, or 21% of the amount expensed on musical sound recording rights for that – whichever is greater, and also a monthly per-subscriber minimum of $0.18 per subscriber. Meanwhile, the planned full catalogue subscription service will yield the greater of 10.5% of revenues, 21% of expenses, plus $0.80 per subscriber per month. The contract also reveals plans for a $350k advance pool for publishers, and what will happen if it strikes more lucrative deals with major music publishers.
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,…