Exploration Weekly - USCO Requests Public Comments for MLC / YouTube TV Ups Subscription Price / Global App Spending Hits $50B in First Half of 2020

Aaron Davis -


“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”

Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

As part of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the US Copyright Office is releasing a public study and soliciting public comments on best practices for the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) to effectively address unclaimed royalties of musical works. Comments are due August 3, and submissions can be made here.

YouTube TV recently increased its subscription price by 30% from $50 to $65 per month amid the addition of eight ViacomCBS channels: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1. According to the company’s blog post, the change will go into effect for new members beginning June 30, and existing subscribers will see the price hike reflected in their next billing cycles on or after July 30.

Globally, app spending reached $50.1 billion on the App Store and Google Play in the first half of 2020, stated app analytics firm Sensor Tower. This was 23.4% higher than the $40.6 billion estimated during the same period in 2019. The Apple Store made up 65% of the spending, but Google Play accounted for more than 74% of the 71.5 billion app installs in the first half of this year.

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Compiled by Heidi Seo

Exploration Weekly - July 3, 2020

Copyright Office Requests Public Comments on MLC Best Practices

In a public study directed by the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the US Copyright Office is soliciting public comments to recommend best practices that the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) may implement to effectively identify and locate copyright owners with unclaimed royalties of musical works, encourage copyright owners to claim accrued royalties, and ultimately reduce the incidence of unclaimed royalties. Comments are due August 3.

YouTube TV Hikes Subscription Price to $65 After Adding Suite of ViacomCBS Channels

YouTube TV will now be priced at $65 per month - a 30% increase over its most recent price of $50 - amid the addition of eight ViacomCBS channels: BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, TV Land, and VH1. YouTube TV last hiked its price from $40 to $50 - a 25% increase - in April 2019 after striking a carriage deal with Discovery. The latest change will go into effect for new members beginning June 30, the company wrote in a blog post. Existing subscribers will see the 30% price hike reflected in their subsequent billing cycles on or after July 30. The multi-year deal between YouTube TV and ViacomCBS was announced in May. The company also touted a number of new features in its blog post, including: the ability to jump to various segments within the complete recording of select news programming, a “Dark Mode” on desktop and mobile screens, the ability to mark a show as watch, and a new “Live Guide” on desktops so users can see what’s on for up to seven days in the future.

Report: Global App Spending was $50 Billion in First Half of 2020

According to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, “consumers spent a combined total of $50.1 billion worldwide on the App Store and Google Play in the first half of 2020. This was 23.4 percent more than the $40.6 billion we estimate mobile users spent across both stores during the same period in 2019.” Apple’s store generated more than 65% of the spending, but Google’s store accounted for more than 74% of the 71.5 billion app installs in the first half of this year, states the statistics. Tinder, YouTube, and TikTok were the top-grossing (again, through spending, not ads) apps with $433 million, $431 million and $421 million respectively, while TikTok was the most-downloaded app with 626 million installs. Games generated $36.6 billion of spending on the App Store and Google Play in the first half of this year, thus accounting for 73% of the total.

Spotify Launches New Subscription Plan for Couples in US, 54 More Markets

Spotify has unveiled Premium Duo, a new, cheaper premium subscription option for couples, that has rolled out in the United States and 54 other markets on July 1. Two people living at the same address will now have individual premium accounts for just $12.99 a month. Spotify began testing the new tier last March, piloting Premium Duo in Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Ireland, and Poland. Now with its wider rollout, Duo joins Spotify’s individual plan ($9.99/month), family plan ($14.99/month for up to six accounts under one roof) and student plan ($4.99/month).

YouTube Users Watch 450 Million Hours of Content on TV Screens Each Day

YouTube revealed figures from its annual NewFronts presentation at this year’s Brandcast, stating that TV watch time has increased by 80% over last year, meaning users are watching around 450 million hours of YouTube content on TV screens each day. Additionally, each month, more than 100 million US-based users watch YouTube content on their TV screens. A lot of that watch time is dedicated to live events, YouTube said. Viewership of live events on TV screens shot up 250% in March, as the COVID-19 lockdowns went into effect. The increase may have encouraged the company to amp up its live events production. The company also gave a rundown of its ad products: YouTube Select and video action campaigns as well as its preroll market survey tool, Brand Lift.

Spotify is Expanding Realtime Lyrics to 26 Countries - But Not the US

Spotify realtime lyrics have rolled out to 26 new markets this week, excluding the US. The company began testing the feature last November in select markets, and the launch is happening thanks to a partnership with lyrics provider Musixmatch. It’s the same lyrics partner Spotify used for its testing last year. Users can access the realtime lyrics feature by tapping the new “Lyrics” button on the Now Playing screen. New markets for lyrics include: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, El Salvador, Uruguay, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The US and Canada are excluded from this rollout, and focusing more on Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America for now.

Random Ramblings

  • How musicians are fighting for streaming pay during the pandemic.
  • Visualizing the albums of Wu Tang Clan.
  • BLACKPINK sets five YouTube records with their latest single "How You Like That".
  • Aretha Franklin’s “Never Gonna Break My Faith" scores a seventh straight decade at No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
  • LANY returns with a new heartfelt track from their forthcoming album "Mama's Boy".

Who is Exploration?

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The catalog metadata template offers the minimum viable data needed to collect publishing royalties. Download the .csv file here.

To see who is collecting your royalties, request a free copyright audit here!

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