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His eyes are cold and restless
His wounds have almost healed
And she’d give half of Texas
Just to change the way he feels
She knows his love’s in Tulsa
And she knows he’s gonna go
Well it ain’t no woman flesh and blood
It’s that damned old rodeo

Garth Brooks ~ Rodeo

Berklee College of Music ~ Fair Music Report

The Fair Music Report, produced by Berklee Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship – ReThink Music, is an in depth study of the music business in the digital age. The focus is more of how the industry has changed and continues to change, as the internet moves from emerging periphery to foundational pillar.

Rethink Music Authors:
Executive Summary

The unsurpassed reach of the Internet and the emergence of a range of new digital technologies have transformed virtually every corner of the music industry for fans and creators alike. While consumers enjoy vastly more options, these market disruptions are presenting a range of important challenges for creators, producers, and distributors of music. In our year-long study, the Rethink Music Initiative at the Berklee Institute of Creative Entrepreneurship has sought to identify the underlying barriers to progress and propose solutions to increase transparency, accelerate transactions and cash flows, and reduce inefficiencies in the $45 billion global music industry (including live performances). Musicians are struggling to balance their passion for music with the need to be knowledgeable and vigilant about the financial rewards for their talents. Of the $15 billion in global recorded music revenue for sound recordings reported by the IFPI for 2014, only a small portion of the money beyond the initial recording advances ultimately makes its way to artists as ongoing revenue. Faster release cycles, proliferating online services, and creative licensing structures make finances and revenue even more complex to understand and manage. To strike the right balance, we must address a difficult question: Are the compensation structures fair?

Press Coverage

Download the full report FREE – https://www.berklee.edu/news/fair_music_report

How Much Streaming Services Pay: Visualized

Fast Company just published an article that starts with (paraphrasing) – Now that Apple Music has launched, how does the amount it pays artists compare to other streaming services..

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This is the data used to create the infographic (Public Google Doc) (Link to Infographic )

This is for songs that did not have a composer… That is a joke. Not really. Hide nor hair is mentioned about attribution or royalties to song writers. Bummer.

The notions are interesting and the arguments are well founded, however I often wonder how to better inform these outlets of the existence of an entity called a composer & music publisher. Without including the participation of writers of music, the authors of this article, infographic, and others present rather ignorant. Inasmuch, they do themselves and their audience a disservice and I believe they can do better.

Keen on more fairness and transparency, you proclaim. Yes, please.

Stay close,

Aaron

Thanks to Rene Merideth, Alex Alt, and Bryan Jones for reading drafts of this.