Exploration Weekly - T-Series Joins IPRS / Latin Music US Revenues Up 19% / The MLC Seeks to Fill Music Publisher Rep on Operations Advisory Committee

Aaron Davis -


“It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”

Johann Sebastian Bach

Indian major label T-Series and Indian copyright collection organization, IPRS, has inked a deal to work together, marking a “watershed moment in the Indian music industry.” T-Series is the largest music label in India and the biggest YouTube channel in the world, boasting a catalog of over 200,000 titles and 178 million subscribers. IPRS says the addition will enhance music publishing operations as well as make doing business easier for numerous music licensees.

The RIAA announced in a newly released 2020 report that Latin music’s total US revenues rose 19%, more than double the 9.2% registered for the overall music industry. This drives Latin music’s total percentage of the market up from 5% in 2019 to 5.4% in 2020. The growth was largely driven by streaming revenues, rising by 20% and now making up 96% of total Latin music revenues.

The MLC recently posted a press release seeking suggestions for a music publisher representative to fill an open seat on its Operations Advisory Committee. According to the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the Operations Advisory Committee “makes recommendations to the Board concerning the operations of the Collective, including the efficient investment in and deployment of information technology and data resources.” Suggestions should be made no later than May 8, 2021.

Watch Exploration's co-founder and COO Rene Merideth discuss Royalty Forensics with Catharine Wood of Planetwood Studios in a workshop hosted by Songwriters of North America (SONA) in the latest video below! The two take a deep dive into royalties and how writers can get paid. If you would like to learn more about your royalties, please visit our website here.

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Compiled by Heidi Seo

Exploration Weekly - April 9, 2021

Indian Major Label T-Series Joins Indian Copyright Society IPRS

The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS), India's copyright collection organization, and Super Cassettes Industries, the company better known as T-Series, the name of its label, has joined together - a development the organizations described as a “watershed moment in the Indian music industry.” With a catalog of over 200,000 titles, including more than 50,000 music videos, T-Series is the largest music label in India and boasts the biggest YouTube channel in the world with 178 million subscribers and more than 149 billion views. Until now, T-Series had struck its own deals with music licensees, but only for sound recordings of its repertoire. The IPRS, which counts over 6,500 authors, composers and publishers as its members, says the addition of T-Series will “provide a game-changing boost” to its operations, “significantly enhancing the music publishing ecosystem in India and vastly improving the ease of doing business for numerous music licensees including broadcasters, digital services, telcos and various other small businesses intending to license music in a seamless single window clearance.” India, the 17th-biggest music market in the world, grew by 4.9% last year to $180 million in revenues, according to the IFPI.

Latin Music US Revenues Up 19%, Doubling Overall Industry Growth: RIAA

According to the RIAA's newly released 2020 Latin Music Revenue Report, Latin music registered its fifth consecutive year of growth, with total revenues rising 19%, more than double the 9.2% registered for the overall music industry. This places Latin music revenues at $655 million estimated retail value, and drives Latin music's total percentage of the market up from 5% in 2019 to 5.4% in 2020, their highest level since 2005. Streaming revenues drove growth, rising by 20% and now making up 96% of total Latin music revenues. In comparison, streaming growth for the overall market was 13.4%, and as a percentage of total U.S. revenue, streaming accounted for 82.9% in 2020. Within streaming, the biggest driver of growth was paid subscriptions, with revenue rising from $342.2 million in 2019 to $439 million in 2020, a 28.3% bump. Paid subscriptions now make up 20% of Latin music revenues. The huge growth of paid subscription revenue within Latin music is a key factor to the sector’s health as a whole.

The MLC Seeking Suggestions for Music Publisher Representative to Serve on Operations Advisory Committee

The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) is now seeking suggestions for a music publisher representative to fill an open seat on its Operations Advisory Committee. As described in the MMA, the Operations Advisory Committee “makes recommendations to the Board concerning the operations of the Collective, including the efficient investment in and deployment of information technology and data resources.” The MMA also reserves certain governance positions at The MLC for representatives of music publishers. These positions include ten members of The MLC’s Board of Directors (“Music Publisher Directors”), six members of the Operations Advisory Committee, five members of the Dispute Resolution Committee and five members of the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee. The seat on this committee currently open is a music publisher seat. Therefore, any prospective candidate for this vacancy must be a representative of a music publisher. Suggestions should be made no later than May 8, 2021. To suggest a candidate for the music publisher representative to The MLC’s Operations Advisory Committee, please complete the suggestion form available here.

YouTube Topped Every Other App Globally In Terms of Consumer Spend in Q1 2021 (Report)

Money spent on the YouTube app superseded spending on any other app for the first quarter of 2021 globally on both iOS and Android, according to App Annie‘s latest State Of Mobile 2021 report. Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, app spending in general for Q1 2021 shattered records - to the tune of a 40% year-over-year increase on overall spend across iOS and Android, totaling $9 billion. YouTube is taking home the biggest piece of that pie, besting previous leaders TikTok and Tinder in terms of consumer spend, per the report. App Annie also found that streaming time on YouTube continues to dominate, with users watching YouTube six times more than the next biggest video app (Netflix) at an average of 38 hours of content each month.

Spotify Opens Personalized “On Repeat” Playlist to Brand Sponsorship

Spotify has opened a second personalized playlist to advertisers. Having first allowed brands to sponsor the personalized Discover Weekly playlist in January 2019, brands will now be able to serve display, audio, and video ads to Spotify Free users via On Repeat, which features tracks users have streamed most frequently over the past 30 days. On Repeat is available for advertising sponsorship across 30 markets in North America, Europe, Latin America, and APAC. Spotify has also published new On Repeat stats alongside the announcement, revealing that the playlist has reached 12 billion streams globally since its launch in September 2019. TurboTax has signed on as the first US sponsor of On Repeat.

TikTok Strikes Multi-Territory Licensing Deal with South Africa’s SAMRO/CAPASSO

TikTok has signed a multi-year licensing deal with the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) and Composers Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO). Through CAPASSO’s existing partnerships, the agreement will cover 58 territories across the African continent, covering repertoire belonging to 21 separate collective management organisations. CAPASSO will administer the agreement on behalf of its thousands of members and affiliate members. Music by African songwriters and performers is already proving popular on TikTok and has led to trends such as the electric dance genre #Amapiano, which exploded last year with over 290 million video views. Other licensing agreements signed by TikTok in recent months include deals with Sony Music in November and Warner Music Group in December and an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group in February. The company also inked a multi-territory licensing deal with Merlin in January 2020.

Random Ramblings

  • The ins and outs of music catalog sales and the behind-the-scenes players advising songwriters who cash out.
  • The story behind Madonna’s first No. 1 hit.
  • Taylor Swift scores her 25th Hot Country Songs top 10 with "You All Over Me".
  • The biggest revelations from Demi Lovato’s documentary, "Dancing With the Devil".
  • How the microphone changed the way we sing.

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