Digital Alliance Platform

https://linqapp.com/distr_support/

Audio Video Supply Chain From one convenient platform, efficiently package and deliver both your audio and visual content to meet partner specifications. No additional distributors needed. Advanced Rights Management Manage complex ownership splits between stakeholders and set ownership by territory and/or asset type. Set your policies and see your UGC claims via mobile or desktop. Royalty Payments Let Digital Alliance Platform be your royalty payment solution. Our Royalty Center will allow you to keep an eye on your bottom line by designating royalty splits for every contributor and paying stakeholders directly from the platform. Data Analytics Be in the know and on the go. Monitor your top audio and video content on social media and digital service providers. Direct access to performance and revenue analytics anytime anywhere. Jeremy Randall Cosby Pro linqapp.com/distr_support VP Distribution Support at Digital Alliance Platform Washington, DC TopcaT@PeachTreeMusicGroup.Com

Evergreen confirms Ever Given arrested pending $916m claim including $300m for loss of reputation

                                                                                         Sam ChambersApril 15, 20                                                                             https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5705338832824670&id=100000458282402

Taiwanese liner Evergreen confirmed on Wednesday that the 20,388 teu Ever Given has been arrested by a court in Egypt this week. The giant, near full ship is in the Great Bitter Lake with a crew of 25 onboard, weeks after it ran aground, blocking the Suez Canal. The ship is operated by Evergreen and owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha. 

According to the vessel’s insurer, the UK P&I Club, Shoei Kisen has been hit with a $916m claim from the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). 

Evergreen stated in a release that the claim includes $300m claim for a salvage bonus and $300m for “loss of reputation”.

“During the meeting between the shipowners and SCA on April 12, 2021, no consensus was reached as SCA’s claims are largely unsupported and lack any detailed justification. The following day (13th April), SCA immediately filed an application to arrest the Vessel and this has been granted by the Court,” Evergreen stated in its release issued on Wednesday.

General Average has been declared with shippers very unclear when they might get their cargoes onboard the ship.

For its part, the UK P&I Club said it was disappointed with the SCA’s decision to arrest the vessel. 

“The SCA has not provided a detailed justification for this extraordinarily large claim,” the insurer stated this week. 

The vessel’s classification society, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), completed surveys on on the ship 10 days ago and issued a certificate of fitness to allow the vessel to move from Great Bitter Lake.

The SCA is expected to issue its report into why the vessel came to be lodged on the eastern bank of the canal on Thursday, while the ship’s registry, Panama, will take many more months to issue its full accident investigation report. 

POPPY COLON’S “BAD GIRLS”

POPPY COLON’S “BAD GIRLS” https://dap.direct/d2/share/eyJzIjoxMDQxNjN9

GARTH THOMAS

MUSICNEWSREVIEWS

Exotic and stylishly arranged as to move our focus progressively towards the vocal’s relationship with the percussion, Poppy Colon’s “Bad Girls” doesn’t have a dull moment in the entirety of its four minute running time. Instead of relying on a sample, Poppy Colon conjures up a gorgeous guitar melody to use as his main backdrop here, tempting us with a textural element in the mix as frequently as he does his command of the lyrics. “Bad Girls” might have plenty of counterparts on the radio at the moment, but if you’re looking for something consistently enthralling on an instrumental and vocal level, it stands alone. I was impressed in my initial sit-down with the song, but in the time that’s passed I’ve only grown more intrigued by this material’s vibrant sway. 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5hrJ0JNeU/

Though the groove feels like the most important part here other than the strut of the vocal, I wouldn’t put all of the credit on the percussive arrangement alone. There’s just as much action coming off of the bassline and even the construction of the mix itself, which alludes to some dancehall and Latin pop influences I want him to emphasize all the more in his music. Poppy Colon has never been shy about putting himself out there in a performance, and while the lyrics in this song are less than vulnerable, everything from the surface stuff to the depth of the tonality the instrumentation presents feels really exposed and unhidden by the synthetic nonsense his peers tend to hide behind when making experimental music. 

“Bad Girls” has as simple a pop hook as you can work into a harder rap track, and yet my man never sounds like he’s relenting against the pressure of the implied harmony. The attack he’s utilizing is straight up retro DMX, but it’s not nearly as aggressive as one would need it to be in order to brand the track an homage. There’s nothing recycled about the way the melody winds up married to the pulsating kick of the drum, but instead a feeling of insularity that becomes increasingly difficult to escape as we get closer to the finish line. Poppy Colon has toyed with some ambitious work in the studio before, but this is an affirmation of his alternative interests more than it is anything else. 

APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/bad-girls-single/1522226095?i=1522226096&ign-gact=3&ls=1

An amazing song at blistering or moderate volumes just the same, Poppy Colon’s “Bad Girls” feels like the right addition to make to this artist’s growing body of work at the moment. Critically speaking, there’s not enough here for me to say that he’s outwardly inviting influences from reggae, rock and even old guard gangster music, but I think you’d have to be crazy to ignore the way his approach is starting to diversify. Hybrids are literally everywhere in pop at the moment, but this doesn’t sound deliberately geared towards a pseudo hipster audience (as much of the other crossover content has). Poppy Colon is the real article, and his passion inside of “Bad Girls” definitely solidifies his rep in this industry even more than it already was. 

Garth Thomas

Spotify new numbers, my new single

Did you see what Spotify just released? It's a hopeful step in the direction of being a bit more transparent by the streaming behemoth. The new 'Loud and Clear' site outlines the (macro) economics around how streaming works on the platform. One of the biggest takeaways for me is the number of artists actually earning from streaming. And how much!

+If Spotify Won't Pay More, They Should Give Us More Data

In 2020:

- 184,500 artists made over $1,000
- 67,200 artists made over $5,000
- 42,100 artists made over $10,000
- 13,400 artists made over $50,000
- 7,800 artists made over $100,000
- 1,820 artists made over $500,000
- 870 artists made over $1,000,000

Let's put this in perspective. In Indonesia, the average annual salary is around $10,000. In India and Brazil it's $5,000. And in the US, the median annual salary is just under $50,000. So, depending on where you live, it seems a significant number of musicians are earning a living just from Spotify royalties (not to mention Apple Music, or any other avenue). 

Now, let's not forget that 100% of this money does not go direclty to the artists in many cases. Many of these artists are signed to labels or distributors who keep a percentage of these royalties.

+DistroKid vs. Tunecore vs. CD Baby vs. United Masters vs. Amuse vs. AWAL vs. Stem vs...

And if you don't have someone collecting your publishing royalties (performance AND mechanical) then you're missing out on about 1/5 of all of your money. Check out this article on how to get that money.

+Songtrust vs. Sentric vs. CD Baby Publishing vs. Tunecore Publishing

And, isn't it nuts that nearly 8,000 artists are making more than $100,000 just from Spotify? So next time someone says that Spotify doesn't pay, you can politely correct them. It's a weird and crazy time we're in right now. 

+Spotify Removed Your Music, Now What

Another big takeaway, is that over 550,000 tracks have surpassed 1 million streams (207,000 in just 2020). Now, I know this stat might make you feel quite shitty if you're not the artist behind one of these songs, but don't let this discourage you. Let it encourage you! Tens of thousands of artists are making a living just from Spotify revenue. Make it your goal this year to be one of them! 

At Ari's Take, we're working with some experts in the space to help you achieve streaming success and be one of these artists. We're about to reveal the goods. Stay tuned... 

And last, but (hopefully) not least. I released a new single today. "Birthday" is a piano ballad about reflecting but not dwelling. Being grateful without celebration. 

Take a listen here.

If you do the Spotify thing, please add it to your playlists and smash that heart button. It all helps. We're all in this crazy music community together. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the song (just hit reply). 

~Ari

PS - Have you checked out our report on how much each distributor pays per stream for Spotify and Apple (by country)? We're adding new reports/distros everyday. Check it out here. 

~Ari

Follow Ari's Take on Instagram @aristake_ and TikTok @aris.take for daily doses of inspiration.

Keep up on Twitter: @aristake

Subscribe to the New Music Business podcast

+Who is Ari? 

Visit: https://aristake.com 

My music:
ariherstand.com

Sign up for the email list: http://eepurl.com/c1hFEz

How much each distributor pays for Spotify and Apple Music

I'm holding a live training on The 3 Myths and 3 Truths of Livestreaming for Musicians on Friday, March 5th at 12pm (noon) PST. It's not over Zoom (whew!) - no need to dress up - and it will be LIVE. I'm going to be discussion how you can use Facebook, Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube to build a dedicated following, how you don't need a large following to be successful in livestreaming; how you can make a living livestreaming from home, along with going through case studies of the musicians who've been killing it in the livestreaming space this past year. This is a free training, and as long as you register before the webinar begins you'll receive a link to watch the replay. Register here.

+Read this full report (and see the charts) on aristake.com

All streams are not treated equally.

How much Spotify and Apple Music pay for a stream varies on many factors.

There are around 800 different pay rates for each stream on Spotify. Some of the variables include:

• Country/Territory of the listener
• Subscription plan level (free, family, student, discount, premium)
• Promotional stream
• Distributor / label negotiated rate

We're focusing on the last point here. But I'll get to that in a minute. First let me break down the most obvious points:

Country/Territory of the Listener

Spotify and Apple Music pay more for a stream from a listener in the US than a stream from a listener in India. Why? Simply because the cost of a standard premium subscription in the US is about $10. In India it's under $2.00. Not to mention the free, family and discount plans.

For the ad-supported free plan on Spotify (Apple Music only has a 3-month trial - without ads) advertisers pay more for US Spotify placement than they do for India Spotify placement, so the pay split (which has never been revealed) for ad-supported streams will also be much less.

Subscription Plan Level

Spotify and Apple also pay differently based on the listener's plan. So Spotify (and Apple) will pay-out more for a stream from a listener on a $9.99/mo premium plan versus a listener on the free, ad-supported or family plans.

Worth noting that Apple Music pays a lot more than Spotify across the board because Apple Music does not offer a free, ad-supported streaming experience to users. Ad supported streams pay much less than subscription supported streams.

As of December 31st, 2020, of Spotify's 345 million monthly active users, only 155 million of them are subscribers.

Promotional Stream

This is a very new thing that Spotify is experimenting with. Spotify is offering labels and artists the ability to essentially advertise their songs on the platform as suggested songs to listeners (once they finish listening to their chosen song/album/playlist). Instead of paying a fee up front for advertising, you instead take a lower payout rate for the promoted streams. We don't have any data on how this is working yet.

Distributor / Label Negotiated Rate

This is what we're focusing on with this report. One of the biggest reasons that there isn't a "Spotify pay rate" or an "Apple Music pay rate" is because each distributor negotiates a different pay rate with each DSP (Digital Service Provider - catchall for streaming services). Some indie distributors are part of the Merlin network - which essentially collectively bargains for a rate which will then be utilized for all distributors in that network.

Merlin publicly lists on their Press page that they represent “15% of the global market share” and Merlin’s members include: Amuse, CD Baby, AWAL, DistroKid, Symphonic, Vydia, Sub Pop, Ultra Records, Mad Decent, Secretly, along with "hundreds more" indie labels and distributors.

Supposedly every Merlin deal will result in the same pay-rate for each label and distributor.

But just being part of the Merlin network does not mean that the distributor has to opt-in for every deal. Which is why some distributors have higher pay rates than others who are also part of Merlin.

Worth noting, no distributor paid out more than $.004/per stream for spotify us in 2020

Note that's Spotify US - not Spotify across the board.

We didn't calculate Spotify's average per-stream rate across all territories (as many other reports do) because it would be heavily weighted on the location of the artists' lister base. If an artist got included in a country-specific playlist, like "Top Brazil" and 90% of their streams came from Brazil, their numbers would look awfully different than someone whose streams come primarily from the US or India. Because streams are not evenly distributed amongst every territory, you have to split up calculations by country.

So, we did.

Read the full report (and see the charts) here.

~Ari

Follow Ari's Take on Instagram @aristake_ and TikTok @aris.take for daily doses of inspiration.

Keep up on Twitter: @aristake

Subscribe to the New Music Business podcast

+Who is Ari? 

Visit: https://aristake.com 

My music:
ariherstand.com

Sign up for the email list: http://eepurl.com/c1hFEz

Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

The world's biggest music publishing company is no longer called Sony/ATV. It's now Sony Music Publishing. The re-brand of the US-headquartered pubco sees the Sony Music Publishing name return for the first time in over two decades, complete with a new logo. The move marks 25 years since Sony/ATV was first established in 1995 through a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson. That merger brought together the original Sony Music Publishing with Jackson’s ATV Music, which the late artist acquired in an astonishingly smart buy for just $47.5m in 1985. A process of modern publishing unification at Sony began in 2016, when the company acquired the Michael Jackson estate’s 50% share of Sony/ATV for $750m, making it a wholly owned Sony company. In 2018, Sony further consolidated its position at the largest music publisher – and simplified its structure – via the purchase of full ownership of EMI Music Publishing via two deals jointly worth more than $2.5bn. This recent process of unification has been reflected in the new re-brand to Sony Music Publishing, a move driven by the publishing company's Chairman & CEO, Jon Platt... (MBW)

Big-N-Mage Publishing "BNMP"