The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly NARM and digitalmusic.org, has added Fred Beteille, Product Manager at YouTube, to its Board of Directors. This addition expands the Music Biz Board to 19 members representing different parts of the spectrum of music commerce, including physical and digital as well as content companies.“In his role at YouTube, Fred is at the forefront of digital music and the increasingly complex business models that are continuing to shape it,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “His expertise in royalties, rights management, technology, business development, and more will make him a valuable member not only of our board but also of the larger conversation about making the future of our industry as beneficial as possible to all parties.”“YouTube and Music Biz share many common interests, including making sure that artists, labels, and distributors are all on the same page with the latest advances in technology, rights management, and new business models,” said Beteille. “I’m looking forward to continuing my work on these issues with Music Biz and digging into them with the other board members.”As a Product Manager at YouTube, Beteille helps spearhead music and rights management products and initiatives. Prior to joining YouTube, he was Senior Vice-President of Operations and Technology at the Google-acquired RightsFlow, overseeing the company’s licensing and royalty administration functions and technologies. Earlier in his career, he held the positions of Senior Director, Strategic Technology and Director of Business Affairs at The Harry Fox Agency (HFA), where he helped lead business development efforts and architect rights administration platforms. During his tenure, HFA developed and refined its technological trajectory, resulting in HFA being recognized as one of Information Week’s Top 500 Relentless Innovators for 2009 and 2010. Beteille is also an accomplished musician and songwriter and holds a degree in Music Business Management from New York University.(CLICK NEXT FOR A LIST OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS)Music Biz’s Board of Directors also includes:Rachelle FriedmanJ&R Music and Computer WorldChairmanBrett MuhleiTunesVice ChairmanJohn TrickettImmergentTreasurerLen CosimanoDirector-at-LargeChristina CalioMicrosoftGlenn DickerRedeye IncorporatedMike FrattHomer’sSteve HarkinsBaker& TaylorAnthony MontenegroNokiaBrad NavinThe OrchardBruce OgilvieSuper D/Alliance EntertainmentDilyn RadakovitzDimple RecordsRyan RedingtonAmazonSteve SavocaSpotifyMatt SignoreWarner Music GroupDarren StupakSony Music EntertainmentJim UrieUniversal Music Group DistributionDave ZierlerIngrooves Music Group
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Sweden’s X5 Enlists HFA’s Slingshot for US Licensing Needs
HFA, the music industry’s go-to source for rights management services, has entered into an agreement with Stockholm-based digital music pioneer X5 Music Group for licensing and royalty administration services in the U.S.X5, established in 2003, specializes in the digital download market and has released more than 400,000 tracks and 11,000 digital albums customized for the digital marketplace. The products are marketed globally and are available on iTunes, Amazon, Google and Spotify, among others.X5 is transitioning its U.S rights management responsibilities to HFA and will rely upon Slingshot, HFA’s right management service, for all of its U.S licensing needs, as well as for database management, royalty processing and publisher payments.“Slingshot was built with flexibility in mind which is key in today’s global marketplace,” said Michael Simon, President & CEO of HFA. “We are looking forward to supporting X5 as it expands its international reach.”HFA’s deeply established relationships with the music publishing community, flexible, state-of-the art technology and comprehensive rights database uniquely positions it to provide these services to X5. Tapping into Slingshot to facilitate U.S. licensing allows X5 to focus on creating compelling products for worldwide music consumers.“At X5 we feel it is very important that songwriters and publishers are properly compensated, which is why we take responsibility for this in our compilation deals with our content partners,” said Scott Ambrose Reilly, North American CEO of X5. “Having HFA manage this very important aspect of our business allows us to focus on our core business of creating digitally optimized products to give new life to underserved catalogs and know that the creators of these great songs are getting paid.”
Continue reading...BMI to Mark 75th Anniversary of Its Founding
Broadcast Music, Inc., the global leader in music rights management, will celebrate the 75th year of its founding in 2014. To mark this milestone, the Company has announced a year-long program of commemorative projects and events celebrating its history and contributions to the growth of American music. The program will kick off with the introduction of “75 Years of American Music,” a coffee table book written and art directed by Bob Guccione, Jr., the founder of SPIN magazine. “75 Years of American Music” will chronicle the story of American music as related through rare images, documents and interviews from the bmi archives interspersed with current voices from influential songwriters, music publishers and entertainment executives and tastemakers.The book will be presented at the annual invitation-only bmi NAB dinner to be held in April during the National Association of Broadcasters convention. bmi was organized in 1939 by a group of visionary broadcasters and originally managed through the NAB, making its annual convention a fitting venue for the debut of the anniversary book. It will be released in April 2014 in hardcover to select retail outlets, and will be simultaneously distributed as an e-book. Additional audio, audiovisual and printed material and programming will be produced throughout the year, including archival and current video footage on bmi TV to be distributed virally and via bmi.com.Commenting on the anniversary, bmi President Del Bryant said, “BMI’s songwriters, composers and music publishers have often been credited as the spark that ignited the explosion of American music over the past 75 years. We are thrilled to begin marking this milestone anniversary with a spectacular book that captures the explosion of popular music in America, while highlighting BMI’s enduring mission: to serve our songwriters, composers and music publishers, so that they can keep creating the music that will define and inspire the next 75 years.”bmi CEO Mike O’Neill added, “We are fortunate to have had a long history representing the world’s preeminent musical talent. Now is the perfect opportunity to showcase their incredible stories and contributions through the lens of the bmi narrative. We look forward to celebrating this anniversary throughout 2014 with a multitude of initiatives that salute BMI’s history and the diverse history of those we represent.”“bmi has substantially helped shape modern American music, and I’m honored to have been chosen to produce this special anniversary book,” said Guccione. “We will chart the awesome narrative of the past 75 years musically and culturally, roughly a third of this nation’s entire lifespan. In that time, American music evolved and flowered gloriously, and has perpetually accelerated in terms of excitement and innovation.”
Continue reading...TEESY AND PRODUCER T-NO SIGN PUBLISHING TO BMG
[caption id="attachment_127714" align="alignleft" width="454"] [Left to right:] Lüder Castringius (VP Business and Legal Affairs), T-No, Philipp Senkpiel (Starting Lineup), Teesy, Sina Wahnschaffe (Senior Manager A&R and Creative), Maximilian Kolb (Senior Manager A&R and Creative)[/caption]Critically acclaimed, young r&b/ hiphop talent Teesy and producer T-No (Tracksetters Entertainment) have signed exclusive songwriter agreements with music rights management company BMG.Teesy is the latest signing to influential Stuttgart-based hip-hop label Chimperator and supported label-mate Cro on his open-air tour this summer, promoting his current mixtape Fernweh, ahead of the release of his debut album, which is expected in Spring 2014.Fernweh was developed in co-operation with producer and songwriter T-No (Part of the Tracksetter Entertainment team) and Teesy’s management agency Starting Lineup. The mixtape, including the current single ‘Sturmgewehr (Remix) feat. Kaas’ is available as free download on teesymusik.de.Teesy has been acclaimed for his contemporary approach, bringing a new pop sensibility to German hip-hop.Sina Wahnschaffe, Senior Manager A&R and Creative BMG Germany, said „Teesy is one of German hip-hop’s most exciting newcomers: He is extremely versatile, but boasts a unique style. T-No and Teesy will continue to surprise us with their creative musical ideas and we are very proud to welcome them to the BMG family.”
Continue reading...ole Adds $135-Million for Acquisitions
Ole, one of the world’s foremost rights management companies, has concluded a syndicated financing with 7 U.S. banks to add $135-million in debt capital to ole’s capital structure. In its 9th year of operation, ole has made $275-million of equity investments across various classes of intellectual property assets.The Joint-Lead Arrangers of the facility were Atlanta-based, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and New York-based, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC. SunTrust Bank served as Administrative Agent for the facility, with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. acting as Syndication Agent and CIT Finance LLC and Fifth Third Bank as Co-Documentation Agents. Also participating in the facility are Avenue Bank, City National Bank, and OneWest Bank.The company, which has operations in Toronto, Nashville, New York and Los Angeles, says it will continue to source, acquire, and cultivate high quality intellectual property assets that align with its growth strategy as an upper-mid tier rights management company. Recent purchases include TV/Film IP assets from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Miramax Films, and Cineflix Media, as well as traditional music IP assets from artists/songwriters such as Timbaland and Tyler Farr, among others.
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