Exploration Weekly - YT Creator Music Available in the US / European Commission Refers Six Countries to Court / TikTok to Launch “Creator Fund 2.0

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In this newsletter:

• Creator Music Brings “Mainstream” Tracks to YouTube Videos
• European Commission Goes to Court Against Six Countries Still to Implement the 2019 Copyright Directive
• TikTok Considers Paywalling Videos, Changing Creator Fund Payouts & Eligibility
• Sound Credit and PPL Strike North America Neighboring Rights Collections Partnership
• UK Government Provides Update on Economics of Streaming Work – and Publishes Algorithms Report that Proposes More Transparency from Streaming Services
• DiMA Reveals New Streaming Stats in Fan Engagement Report

YouTube’s latest product, Creator Music, is now available for all YouTube partners in the United States, offering two monetization options: buying a license upfront or entering a revenue-sharing agreement.

The European Commission is going to court against six member states of the European Union. The countries - Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Poland, and Portugal - allegedly failed to get the 2019 Copyright Directive properly integrated into their national copyright systems.

According to The Information, TikTok is planning to launch a “Creator Fund 2.0” as early as March, which may pay out more to creators and potentially change the limits of who is eligible.

Now, the details...

Exploration Weekly - February 17, 2023
Compiled by Heidi Seo

Creator Music Brings “Mainstream” Tracks to YouTube Videos

YouTube’s latest product, Creator Music, provides creators with an appealing library of songs and clear licensing terms for those tracks. First announced last year, Creator Music is now available for all YouTube partners in the United States. There are two different monetization options: Creator Music users can buy a license upfront or enter a revenue-sharing agreement with the rights holders. The terms of those deals are clearly laid out through the Creator Music interface. Some tracks only offer one of those options, while others are not available for creator monetization.

European Commission Goes to Court Against Six Countries Still to Implement the 2019 Copyright Directive

The European Commission has referred six member states of the European Union to the EU courts for failing to get the 2019 Copyright Directive properly integrated into their national copyright systems. The EC said in a statement yesterday that is had “decided to refer Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Poland and Portugal to the Court Of Justice Of The EU following their failure to notify complete transposition measures on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market (Directive (EU) 2019/790)”.

TikTok Considers Paywalling Videos, Changing Creator Fund Payouts & Eligibility

TikTok is working on a feature that will allow creators to charge a price of their own choosing for some videos, according to The Information. In addition, the popular app is rethinking its creator fund and experimenting with a change that would pay out more to creators than the initial version of the program, The Information reports. The new iteration of the fund may also potentially change the limits of who is eligible. This “Creator Fund 2.0” could launch as early as March.

Sound Credit and PPL Strike North America Neighboring Rights Collections Partnership

Music credit and information services provider Sound Credit and its sister brand Soundways have teamed up with UK-based music licensing company PPL to bring international neighboring rights collection to North American creators working with Sound Credit. Sound Credit’s North American performers will benefit from PPL’s expertise in royalty collections and distribution. They can also sign up for PPL’s international collections service that gathers and shares metadata and recording information with PPL.

UK Government Provides Update on Economics of Streaming Work – and Publishes Algorithms Report that Proposes More Transparency from Streaming Services

The UK government’s Department For Culture, Media And Sport has posted an update on its work around the economics of music streaming, as well as publishing a new report looking at the impact of streaming service algorithms on music consumption. A number of government-led initiatives were instigated after the UK Parliament’s culture select committee completed its inquiry into the economics of streaming in 2021. That inquiry was sparked by campaigning from UK artist and songwriter groups who raised various issues with the streaming business, including around music-maker remuneration, transparency, data and the impact of those pesky algorithms on what music gets streamed.

DiMA Reveals New Streaming Stats in Fan Engagement Report

DiMA, the US-based trade body representing music streaming services, has published a report offering findings from a survey of 3,000 music listeners in the US. “Five of the top six features in which streaming services outrank every other music format either relate to customization/ personalization or the impact of unlimited shelf space,” noted DiMA in the report. Another interesting stat: according to DiMA’s survey, the two most popular ways that streamers listen to music are customized playlists created by music fans or friends (45% said they do this) or by the streaming service itself (43%).

Random Ramblings

• How DO streaming algorithms change the way we listen to music?
• The booming business of music catalog sales.
• A brief history of the most sampled song of all time.
• Remembering Burt Bacharach: 10 essential songs that epitomize the songwriting giant's legacy.
• Linkin Park drops a new video of an unreleased track as their Meteora album crossed its 20th anniversary.