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Indies unite to challenge Big Four digital deals
By Andrew Orlowski
Source: The Register
"Merlin came together to license the individually unlicenseable," said Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills. "It's the virtual fifth major."
No individual Merlin member label claim as much as one per cent of the world's market share, but collectively they add up to 30 per cent of the global music market - and 80 per cent of the world's new releases.
"We're the largest company in the world if we act together," said Martin Lambot of the PIAS Group, and former president of Impala, the global indie labels' association.
Mills told us that the move to a one-stop licensing agency for indies began 18 months ago, but had been accelerated when Universal Music cut deals with YouTube and MySpace as 2006 drew to a close.
Alison Wenham of the UK-based Association for Independent Music (AIM) confirmed that indies would demand the removal of content from sites such as YouTube if they didn't cut Merlin a similar deal to the one negotiated by Universal Music, the world's biggest label.
Indie labels who strike deals with online stores such as Apple iTunes and Napster are disappointed to discover they receiver lower royalties than artists represented by the Big Four: Universal/Vivendi, Warners, Sony BMG and EMI. And others, such as MTV, pay majors but not indies.
"Majors broke no new genres, and none the major artists started on majors," said Tommy Silverman, co-founder of legendary New York hip hop label Tommy Boy Records. Silverman pointed out that Elvis Presley had started on an indie.
Indie representatives also pointed to the cultural contribution of the sector:
"A lot of music around the world would not exist without the efforts of Indies; without payment you're saying it's not worth the effort," added AIM's Alison Wenham.
Earlier in the day, Universal Music eLabs president and digital strategy chief Larry Kensil indicated a sea change in the company's approach to doing business.
"The box is getting smaller, so if you don't think outside of the box you're company is going to get smaller." Kenswil said UMG was now a licensing company rather than one that counted unit sales.
"Indies have always been the lifeblood of the industry," said Kenswil. "It will fall on indies even more than before to find talent".
Such words were unthinkable a year ago, Mills agreed. Here's Larry speaking last February. You can judge for yourselves. ®
User Comments
(These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)
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independentm...
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 7:16 PM
This is all well and good. But I want to know if TRUE independent artists (who are not a part of this "Merlin" collective) can get in on this too.
Folks, I again urge you NOT to put your music at places like YouTube or MySpace until they give us a share of the profits on par with what they are giving the RIAA. |
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Twarrior
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 8:06 PM
Yeah -- and DMusic has a tip jar! w00t! Not to say thats i've actually made anything off of it -- but -- if my (or anyones) music were to get uber-popular -- you can be damn skippy that tip jar would fill up quickly! |
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Twarrior
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 8:08 PM
Even if it was only ONCE and then NEVER again -- who here WOULD NOT donate A BUCK OR TWO to the DMusic tip jar of a band or artist they *REALLY* thought was the shit? I don't think i'll be seeing any hands going up. |
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Twarrior
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 8:10 PM
Not to mention if even ONE DMusic Artist got main stream popular -- DMusic would be getting millions of hits PER DAY just because of that ONE artist! Now wouldn't THAT be cool?! |
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independentm...
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 8:51 PM
I think leflaw should move forward with the plan to host music videos at Dmusic while the time is ripe.
Put the artists tip-jar as a "clickable" frame at the begining and end of each video. |
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independentm...
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Date: January 21, 2007 @ 8:52 PM
Dmusic has actually had a few "known" artists before. (Some still available.)
Lester Chambers
Blues Traveler
I'm sure there are a few others. |
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gdZiemann
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Date: January 22, 2007 @ 1:21 AM
"The world's biggest record label, albeit a 'virtual' one, emerged today..."
One day old and they're the biggest in the world. Bullshit alarms went off and I was still reading the blurb on the front page.
"We're the largest company in the world if we act together."
Big "if" there, pal. Organizing musicians is like herding cats. Good luck with that.
"...indies would demand the removal of content from sites such as YouTube if they didn't cut Merlin a similar deal to the one negotiated by Universal Music..."
Way to think outside the box. Don't compete, just demand.
"'...without payment you're saying it's not worth the effort,' added AIM's Alison Wenham."
Since she's the one who uttered the first quote, too, this is almost as bad as the RIAA because it's skewed logic and intentionally misleading. First they demand to be paid "similar" rates, then act like the only other choice is no pay at all and now it's not worth the effort when she has effectively rejected every option in between.
If it wasn't worth the effort without money, it probably wasn't worth the effort period. |
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grumpygeezer
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Date: January 24, 2007 @ 9:07 PM
Folks, that there post by George is a fine example of one of the big reasons to stay with this website.
The value of his insight and his way with words is beyond assessment.
And then you add CodeWarrior's occasional participation to the mix, and Shmoo's, and ... well, lots of other folks — you get the idea: This is the place to be.
Oh, yeah, sure, I visit SlashDot and other websites, too, but I really prefer being here.
And there are some very good reasons for that. |
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grumpygeezer
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Date: January 24, 2007 @ 9:08 PM
Oh, good grief, I better watch out or I might get my grumpiness license suspended!
:)
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grumpygeezer
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Date: January 24, 2007 @ 9:11 PM
(that is, as if people are expecting my posts to typically contain some complaint or criticism simply because of my username, LOL! -- I'm just being silly here for a minute, sorry) |
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