Audiam is the streaming mechanical royalties collection agency that Canadian collecting society Socan acquired in 2016, keeping its founder Jeff Price on to lead it.
Now he has left the company abruptly, with Socan’s announcement making it clear (“Socan makes Audiam leadership change”) that it was the company’s decision rather than Price’s.
COO Jeff King will take on Price’s CEO duties, with Socan’s interim CEO Jennifer Brown promising “Audiam’s business will continue without change”.
Is this change amicable? Seems not.
“I approached SOCAN about 3 weeks ago asking to work together for my transition out this is the way they decided to proceed. I remain committed to the mission Audiam was founded to pursue. unfortunate that ultimately the interests of Socan were allowed to dominate that mission,” tweeted Price overnight.
I approached SOCAN about 3 weeks ago asking to work together for my transition out this is the way they decided to proceed. I remain committed to the mission Audiam was founded to pursue. unfortunate that ultimately the interests of Socan were allowed to dominate that mission
— Jeff Price (@JPriceOfMusic) July 15, 2020
Last week, he hosted a webinar about the lawsuit against Spotify by Eminem’s publisher Eight Mile Style, including talking about the involvement of the Harry Fox Agency, and its former owner the National Music Publishers Association.
Given his tweets before that (here and here) it’s fair to say his sudden defenestration this week is going to put a few more cats among the pigeons – although it’s also important to note that at this point, neither Price nor Socan has said the webinar is the reason for or a factor in his departure, and according to his tweet above, discussions about his ‘transition out’ predated the event.
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