Tag: indies

As Sony Music Publishing moves to take full control of EMI Music Publishing, European independent trade body Impala says a deal on this scale – and the market consolidation it will deliver – must be stopped. It has...

“It’s something that’s struck me for years working in this industry: people just don’t know how to talk to artists about the business in the artist’s language!” That’s something that Zoë Gholson has worked...

Analysts from Deutsche Bank have suggested that major labels are unhappy with their share of slots on Spotify’s curated and algorithmic playlists. However, the caveat is that according to Business Insider, their note...

Indie licensing agency Merlin has published a report to celebrate its 10th anniversary, including the previously-reported stat that its annual payouts to members are now more than $500m. There are other new figures though....

Recent reports on Spotify’s moves in to signing direct licensing deals with some artists have drawn criticism from major labels, but the independent community is also mulling what it all means. US trade body A2IM’s...

As it approaches its 10th anniversary, Merlin has revealed that it will collect $500m on behalf of its members this year. To put that in context, the indie digital rights body collected $1bn in the first nine years of its...

How can independent labels make the most of disruptive new technologies, from blockchain and AI to virtual and augmented reality? A session at the Midem conference last week explored the issue. The panel included Jason...

Independent licensing agency Merlin is celebrating its tenth birthday by revealing that 2017 saw its highest number of new members since its first year of operation. The organisation has grown from a team of three when...

Music-finance firm Sound Royalties has unveiled its latest funding program: this one aimed at music distributors – and by extension, to independent labels. It’s called The Edge Funding Program. “For independent...

The opening address at AIM’s Music Connected conference in London last Friday came from Paul Sanders, co-founder of Consolidated Independent. He delivered a warning around the ability to stay independent, for music companies...

There’s a new trade body for independent musicians and labels in Japan. It’s called the Independent Music Coalition of Japan (IMCJ for short) and is a merger of three existing organisations: the Independent Records and...

Christof Ellinghaus, founder of Berlin-based indie label City Slang, is keen for governments to take action to remove YouTube’s safe harbours, and thus address the ‘value gap’. “We’re all stopping to sell records...