This Week's Music Lawsuits (Ahem, News)
Live Nation Monopoly, RIAA vs. AI Music, Jay-Z vs. Baccardi
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. Activist Groups Press Department of Justice to ‘Investigate and Unwind’ the Live Nation-Ticketmaster Merger
Following Meta’s forced sale of Giphy by UK regulators, the climate may be favorable to consciously decoupling Live Nation and Ticketmaster.
Takeaway: Time will tell whether the campaign elicits concrete action from government officials – a point that may itself depend upon distinguishing between actual violations of laws and public frustration stemming from (technically legal) overpriced tickets as well as anti-consumer business practices.
2. Mixcloud Launches Tracks For Producers To Upload Original Music
The new feature positions Mixcloud as a more direct rival to SoundCloud for music creators.
Takeaway: Since Mixcloud has music licenses in place, the copyright protections that come with uploading music to the platform is a heavy layer of security for the artist as well.
3. Web3 DSP Audius Buys Online-Concerts Startup Soundstage.fm
With crypto still cooling, the Web3 DSP backed by Katy Perry, Nas and Guy Oseary is diversifying it’s holdings.
Takeaway: Audius’s take on ‘web3 music streaming’ has focused mainly on its decentralized nature and its plans for tokens, with a smattering of NFT features to boot. Now it’s upping its efforts in another area of Web3: the metaverse.
4. Record Industry Clamps Down On AI-Based Music Extractors That Infringe On Copyrights
A new breed of music deconstruction sites has fallen foul of the RIAA.
Takeaway: The RIAA’s fight against copyright infringers led to the shutdown of a number of sites including YouTube-MP3.org (YouTube to MP3) in 2017 and torrent site Rapidshare in 2015.
5. Jay-Z Sues Bacardi for Disclosure of Financial Records as Cognac Deal Sours
50/50 partnerships can be tricky when only one partner is involved in “all warehouses storing the product, barrels, bottles, and accessories, including all information regarding physical inventory and accompanying process.”
Takeaway: While it isn’t clear what prompted Jay-Z to demand this information, the lawsuit indicates noticeable levels of distrust between partners.
6. Apple Dolby Atmos Comes To Cars For The First Time, Courtesy Of Mercedes
Vehicles equipped with premium Burmester audio are the first non-Apple products to offer Atmos mixes via Apple Music.
Takeaway: Apple Music customers in compatible Mercedes cars can be sure they’re hearing Approved in a MercedesBenz tracks sounding exactly as they did when their creators mixed them.
7. Metacritic Crunches the Reviews, as Fans Watch
Converting critical acclaim into points has turned fandom into a scorekeeping sport.
Takeaway: The idea of scoring artists may seem unnecessary or make some critics uncomfortable, but there’s a strong appetite among listeners to have numbers at their fingertips.
