“D” is for “desperate.”  And “debt.”  According to the Wall Street Journal:

Swedish music-streaming company Spotify AB has scheduled a series of investor meetings in an effort to raise about half a billion dollars through a convertible bond issue, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Spotify is eager to have financial firepower at hand should consolidation opportunities arise in the industry, according to the person. The issue won’t necessarily be a prelude to a stock-market listing of the privately held company, the person said.

The Financial Times tell us:

Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, which first reported the planned funding round, said that the loans would pay an annual interest rate of 4 per cent. In addition, they would convert into equity at a 17.5 per cent discount to Spotify’s share price if the company goes public in the next year.

This financial structure would guarantee lenders hefty…

Blake Morgan posted this on his Facebook page today:

So…today is the day. For the first time, I’ll be bringing the #IRespectMusic campaign to the United States Senate. Over the next two days, I’ll be in Senate offices for discussions on fair market value specifically for American songwriters. The Songwriter Equity Act, like the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, is a crucial piece of legislation supported by both parties that American music makers want, need, and deserve. #IRespectMusic began as a spontaneous online grassroots uprising, and now look at where we’ve brought it, together. I’m saddled up. Game on.

Once again, Blake demonstrates the power of grassroots!  We’ll keep you posted on his journey.

If you’re going to be in Los Angeles for Grammy Week, don’t forget that the California Copyright Conference is hosting a panel on #irespectmusic on February 9, click here for details.

The California Copyright Conference will be hosting a panel entitled “The I Respect Music Campaign and the New Grassroots Artist Rights Advocacy” on February 9 from 6-9:30ish at the Sportsman’s Lodge in Los Angeles.  We will be having a wonderful group of panelists in Adam Dorn pka Mocean Worker, Karoline Kramer-Gould, David Lowery and Blake Morgan.

CCC Members and College Students $45 per person | Non-members $55 per person
Students must show College ID at the door, if paying at the member rate

Click here for details and reservations!

The I Respect Music Campaign and the New Grassroots Artist Rights Advocacy

Kiss me once, then once more.
What a dunce I was before.
How long has this been going on?

From How Long Has This Been Going On?
Music by George Gershwin, Lyric by Ira Gershwin from Funny Face

If you have been following the separate class actions for songwriter royalties brought against Spotify by David Lowery and Melissa Ferrick, a question might have occurred to you as it has to me:  How long has Spotify known about its songwriter royalty problem?

Given reports that as much 25% of Spotify’s music offering is unlicensed, surely this didn’t happen the week before the first class action was filed.  That’s millions of songs and that kind of mistake takes some time to get to scale.

Thinking back, I remembered the meetings that Spotify hosted in October 2014 as part of its artist outreach campaign.  Those meetings were held in New York, Nashville and…

If you are a member of the Austin music community and get your health coverage through the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (“HAAM”) listen up!  Even if your HAAM card says you are covered through 2016, you need to re-enroll in order to keep your benefits for ALL of 2016 if you haven’t done so already.

The folks at HAAM will help you get through the re-enrollment, but you need to get in touch.  Find out the details on the HAAM website (click here for the direct link).

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T WAIT TO THE LAST MINUTE.  DO IT NOW EVEN IF YOU ARE ON THE ROAD.

If you not yet a member of HAAM you can apply.  HAAM says:

We are currently accepting new Member applications. You must be able to prove that you are a working musician, that you live in Travis County or within a…

The #irespectmusic team was back on Capitol Hill this week to tell the story of working people supporting artist pay for radio play and the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act.  This time Blake Morgan was joined by Karoline Kramer-Gould, the former music director at WJCU in Cleveland, and met with Members of the House of Representatives on key House committees.

Fair Play Fair Pay Co-Sponsor Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Karoline, You, Blake

Karoline’s Story

Karoline gave an October 28, 2015 interview to MusicTechPolicy via Huffington Post about her support for Fair Play Fair Pay that went viral.  Karoline left WJCU in December.

Members wanted to hear her tell the other side of the story–working people in radio who silently support artist pay for radio play because they respect artists but who don’t feel comfortable speaking out against the views of their bosses.  (See Karoline’s interview and letter to…

Congressman Ted Deutch, Karoline Kramer-Gould and Blake Morgan in Washington, DC

Who can forget Karoline Kramer-Gould’s courageous stand supporting artist pay for radio play against the MIC Coalition and the National Association of Broadcasters?  The former Music Director at WJCU is on Capitol Hill meeting with Members of Congress to give them her point of view in support of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act that would guarantee fair compensation for artists played on terrestrial radio.

That would be all artists–because Fair Play Fair Pay closes the “Pandora loophole” that allows Pandora and Sirius to stiff artists recording before 1972 and their heirs.

We all owe Karoline a big vote of thanks for sticking her neck out against the NAB, Pandora, Sirius, Google and the rest of the MIC Coalition.

Congressman Ted Deutch is a great supporter of artist rights and holds a sign that is itself a play on…

The top three artist rights stories this week in review

1. Blake Morgan’s Must Read Huffington Post Op-Ed, “Why Music Makers Are the Real American Innovators“:  If you are sick and tired of being talked down to, called a Luddite, ignored, demeaned and exploited by The Man 2.0 in the Grey Flannel Suit, you’ll love Blake’s latest homerun op-ed:

Music makers don’t require a lesson on American innovation at all.

We know all about American innovation.

Rock & Roll is an American innovation. Hip-Hop is an American innovation. Jazz isan American innovation. Blues, Country, Gospel, Bluegrass, each of these — and so many others — are distinct American innovations.

Music is one of the things America still makes that the world still wants. The people who make that music should be paid fairly for their work.

That’s our argument.

2.  UK Artist Rights Advocates…

There is an increasing chorus in the press wondering just how much Google could influence elections without any of us knowing it happened.  Sound crazy?  Not so much.  A leading academic has a study demonstrating its entirely possible, and seems particularly possible in tight elections or a voter population that is relatively small compared to the U.S. and highly concentrated–like Canada.  (MTP first reported this story in 2013:  Now That’s What I Call Bundling: Can Google Throw Elections?)

As Professor Robert Epstein writes in a recent Politico story:

Research I have been directing in recent years suggests that Google, Inc., has amassed far more power to control elections—indeed, to control a wide variety of opinions and beliefs—than any company in history has ever had. Google’s search algorithm can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20 percent or more—up to 80 percent in some…

[Editor Charlie sez:  MTP’s first post of 2016 is a guest post by Stephen Carlisle, an entertainment lawyer with over 25 years experience in private practice in the State of Florida.  The post first appeared on the Nova Southeastern University Office of Copyright site where Mr. Carlisle is the university’s first Copyright Officer.  Posted with permission of the author.]

Originally posted on December 18, 2015 [before David Lowery’s class action against Spotify]

Two months ago, the Wall Street Journal ran an article reporting that Spotify had failed to pay a significant amount of royalties due to the music publishing company associated with Victory Records. 1 Rather than make nice with Victory Records’ publishing arm, Spotify responded by pulling Victory’s catalog off the music streaming service. 2

This was immediately followed by several articles by David Lowery, (a songwriter for the indie bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven)…