Posts tagged: ASCAP

Since the end of August, there have been reports that BMI is in advanced talks to sell itself to the private equity firm New Mountain Capital. A deal has yet to be signed but the possibility has raised concerns among songwriters about what it will mean for the collective management sector if one of its largest organizations becomes a business owned by private equity.

Such a move would take BMI in a new direction, away from the traditional model – based on non-profit and transparent operations—of the CISAC community. For CISAC and our global network of 227 Collective Management Organisations (CMOs, or societies), however, it also highlights the strength and value to creators of the global collective rights management system. The collective management model has been successful for over a century, remaining faithful to its core principles, while transforming and adapting to keep pace with the rapidly changing business environment.

BMI will stay connected to this community. In anticipation of the new direction it has taken in the last year, it has moved from being a full CISAC member to a CISAC “client,” a new category that was established in 2020 to accommodate the new types of rights management entities — including SESAC, Soundreef and Nextone – which have emerged.

Clients make up a very small group of “for-profit” entities that differ from the overwhelming majority of CISAC members, which operate on a non-profit basis. Clients are not subject to all of the traditional transparency and business rules that full CISAC members abide by, but still have access to CISAC’s systems and data exchanges that help the global music market function

By accepting for-profit entities as clients, CISAC maintains its inclusiveness and diversity, while not compromising on the core conditions of membership.

It is those core membership conditions which provide the unique value of the global network. Full members, such as ASCAP in the US, PRS for Music in the UK or GEMA in Germany, are required to meet key fundamental rules:

As a global confederation, CISAC respects individual creators’ decisions on whom they entrust their rights to. It equally respects members and clients’ decisions on how they manage creators’ rights. The global song rights market is changing rapidly, with growing competition between different types of royalty collection bodies at a time when the cost pressures of managing digital collections and distributions has never been greater.

These changes are inevitable and they are good, if they have the end of result of better serving the creators who are at the center of our business.

In this transforming landscape, the vast majority of CISAC’s member societies remain non-profit entities which abide by all CISAC rules. Full CISAC members work only for creators and rightsholders, not shareholders. Their transparency obligations ensure high levels of integrity and best practice across the network. Creators and rightsholders, not financiers and investors, are assured a controlling role in their decision-making. Creators sit on our societies’ Boards of Directors. You’d be hard pressed to find other entities in the music industry which have music creators as their Board members.

The global collective management system gives creators a strong, united voice to lobby for creator-friendly legislation, develop modern systems for data exchange, adopt best practices and maximize collections and distributions. From helping to turn around failing markets such as Greece, Turkey and India to negotiating the best deals with music users, this community continues to play an indispensable role for creators and publishers worldwide.

Our sector remains the only part of the music industry that puts the creator front and centre of everything it does. While more commercial ventures may be tested in our fast-evolving market, the fact remains that the collective management system is the most robust, reliable and fit-for-purpose model in serving creators.

Gadi Oron is the director general of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC), a Paris-based rights organization.

On Thursday, the most successful tropical Latin singer in history will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

With his first hit, a reworking of Juan Gabriel’s “Hasta Que Te Conocí” in 1993, the then-24-year-old Marc Anthony became an international superstar, transforming salsa into something more personal — highly dramatic and intensely passionate — and remaking Latin pop music in the process.

The numbers are remarkable: a career concert gross of around half a billion dollars, 105 No. 1 hits on a variety of Billboard charts, dozens of RIAA gold and platinum certifications, 8 billion YouTube plays, two Grammys, six Latin Grammys and more prizes and awards than there is space to name in this article.

Today, after 30 years at the top, his powerful, soaring voice remains a phenomenon. His longtime producer Sergio George says he always knew that Anthony was a once-in-a-generation talent. “From the first record, I knew!” he tells Variety. “I told him, ‘The sky’s the limit.’”

“The reason he’s where he’s at is he visualizes it,” he continues. “The power of the mind? The vision? He has it.”

Born Marco Antonio Muñíz in El Barrio (East Harlem in New York City) to Puerto Rican parents, he was named by his musician father Felipe for the stellar Mexican vocalist of the same name. Anthony remembers singing along with his dad at the age of three. “I stuttered all my life,” he told Tracy Smith in a 2016 interview for “CBS This Morning,” “but when I sang, I didn’t stutter. And that was my preferred way of communicating.”

He grew up at 102nd Street and Third Avenue in a neighborhood known for music, which fell into two main streams: a Latin-soul mixture that came together naturally on the streets of his barrio, and the retro-Cuban salsa boom that exploded during the ’70s of his childhood. There were romantic songs, and there was English-language pop in its many flavors. “Everybody played their own music out the window,”
he recalled.

Anthony had been a busy session singer before he released his first single, “Rebel,” in 1988, singing in English in the dance genre known as freestyle. Anglicizing his name professionally to avoid confusion with his still-active namesake, he was particularly associated with the house-music visionary Todd Terry and the Masters at Work team of Little Louie Vega, with whom he opened for Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in 1992, and Kenny “Dope” González.

He hadn’t planned on a career as a Spanish-language singer. “I never thought in a million years that it would be salsa or Spanish in any way, shape, or form,” he told Billboard’s Leila Cobo. For one thing, although he’d grown up hearing Spanish, he didn’t speak it well. But when he teamed up with George, who was at the time the house producer for Ralph Mercado’s RMM label, his fledgling career hit a reset, and he got his Spanish together, fast. The team’s second album, “Todo a Su Tiempo” (1995) took them two years of work and generated seven No. 1 singles on Billboard’s Tropical Songs chart. The third album, “Contra la Corriente” (1997), was the first-ever salsa album to enter the Billboard 200 album chart, but that understates its impact on Latin music.

Together with George, Anthony created a new pop-salsa style that quickly dominated the charts and inspired countless imitators. At first, he told Smith, his dream was simply “to get out of the neighborhood.” Suddenly it happened, and he found himself singing for large audiences in multiple Spanish-speaking countries. He became a major player in the internationalization of Spanish-language music, ultimately relocating from his native New York to Miami.

The vastness of the international Spanish-speaking market, underserved by the mainstream U.S. music business, came as a revelation to him. Although his two biggest U.S. charting singles were in English (“You Sang to Me,” and “I Need to Know,” from his self-titled 1999 fourth album), he remained focused on that larger Spanish-speaking world as a career objective. Eleven of his 13 albums are in Spanish.

In 2015, after years of informally mentoring younger artists in the business of Latin music, together with music biz veteran Michel Vega, he founded Magnus Media, a company focused on representing Latinos in music and sports. Among its holdings are Magnus Music, the label that now releases Anthony’s albums. Magnus’ publishing division has young songwriters under contract; they give him first look, so he has plenty of material to choose from when he goes to record. “I’m surrounded by artists who write for me,” Anthony said in a 2022 EPK promoting his most recent album, the Grammy-winning “Pa’llá Voy.” “They write with my voice in mind, with my inflections in mind.”

When it’s time to record, “the approach is the same as it was 30 years ago,” says George. “It’s nuts! When we go into the studio, we don’t know what we’re going to do. There’s no pre-production, nothing! He has a basic song demo, done in a ballad form. We know that it’s gonna be successful but we don’t know how. You would think that these two guys [Sergio and Marc] are under all the pressure in the world, but we go in completely unprepared.”

Together with the musicians, they build up the music on the spot, with a live, spontaneous feel that sets it apart from the pre-programmed sound that has become the norm across many segments.

His songs tend to be movie-like dramatic monologues, so it’s not surprising that he’s an accomplished actor. “Marc’s a photographer, a painter, an actor. He’s an artist beyond music,” says Carlos Pérez, director of many Anthony music videos. “On set, he’s always a pleasure because he looks at things from a completely different point of view than most artists. He understands camera position, lighting and how it all impacts the character’s emotions.”

Anthony, who also made music with Jennifer Lopez when they were married, brings the same intense focus to the craft of acting that he does to singing, as per his emotive starring role in Paul Simon’s “The Capeman” (1998) on Broadway, with Rubén Blades and Ednita Nazario as co-stars. His film work includes “El Cantante” (2006), in which he played the tragic title role of salsa legend Héctor Lavoe, who died the year Anthony’s first album was released. Most recently, he appeared in “In the Heights” (2021), as well as earlier roles in “Man on Fire” (2004, appearing opposite Denzel Washington), “In the Time of Butterflies” (2001), “Bringing Out the Dead” (1999) and a small but moving part in critical favorite “Big Night” (1996).

As a philanthropist, he co-founded, with his longtime friend and colleague Henry Cárdenas, the Maestro Cares Foundation. Maestro built its first orphanage, Niños de Cristo, in La Romana, Dominican Republic, in 2014, followed by children’s homes in Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other countries in Latin America. In 2017, working with Magnus, he created Somos Una Voz, an alliance of artists and athletes to help provide humanitarian relief to areas affected by natural disasters.

Yet the foundation of it all is his music — and that voice.

“He will go down as one of the greatest artists of all time, period, regardless of genre,” George concludes. “He’s there already. There’s no one like him.”

Boosie BadAzz is posting Yung Bleu’s alleged music publishing details and is insisting that Bleu is being taken advantage of.

Boosie BadAzz Posts Yung Bleu’s Alleged Music Publishing Details in Attempt to Provide Receipts

On Wednesday (Sept. 6), Boosie BadAzz hit up Instagram to unleash a series of new videos aimed at Yung Bleu. After once again accusing Bleu of being a “snake” and an “ungrateful thief,” the Baton Rouge, La. native finished things off by implying that Yung Bleu is missing out on 100 percent of his publishing money. Boosie BadAzz then posted a number of screenshots from Bleu’s BMI and ASCAP’s publishing reports as receipts.

“Icing on the cake,” Boosie BadAzz says in the video below. “He’s taking your publishing too, bro. Reserv is one company. Vice and Play is his publishing company. Let me show what he’s doing to all your records, Bleu. Taking all your publishing. Swipe.”

From there, the BMI and ASCAP Songview screenshots for Yung Bleu songs like “Bought a Patek,” “Boss Ya Life Up” and “Beverly Hills” show a breakdown of the percentages the Empire Records and a company named Vice and Play make from Bleu’s music versus what Bleu makes himself.

Who Does Boosie BadAzz Think Is Taking All of Yung Bleu’s Publishing?

It’s highly likely that the person Boosie BadAzz is referring to as the party “taking all of” Yung Bleu’s publishing is CEO of Empire Records, Ghazi Shami. Over the past couple of months, Boosie has been calling out Shami, Empire and Yung Bleu for allegedly inking a deal behind his back. Boosie BadAzz has even made T-shirts calling Ghazi Shami and Yung Bleu snakes, which Boosie says he intends to distribute to people who bought tickets to Bleu’s current Love Scars Tour.

Read More: Boosie BadAzz Calls Yung Bleu a Clown for Allegedly Kicking T-Rell Off Bleu’s Love Scars Tour

Boosie BadAzz and Yung Bleu’s Beef Over Their Contract Dispute Has Intensified Recently

Boosie BadAzz’s latest rant and his being inspired to show off Yung Bleu’s publishing details comes directly on the heels of a heating social media exchange between the two rappers. After Yung Bleu posted a photo on Instagram of $1 million in cash on Sunday (Sept. 3), an enraged Boosie took the flex as a slight against him, claiming that “at this point he playing me like I’m just a b***h a*s n***a.”

In response to that, Yung Bleu refuted Boosie BadAzz’s claims alleging that Boosie declined an offer that included $2 million and the publishing rights to his mixtape catalog, in addition to 50 percent of Bleu’s new songs and 100 percent of the songs he previously released.

Read More: Boosie BadAzz and Yung Bleu Beef Intensifies as They Insult Each Other Over Contract Dispute

XXL has reached out to Yung Bleu and Empire Records for a statement on the matter.

Check out Boosie BadAzz’s latest rant and see Yung Bleu’s publishing details Boosie publicly shared below.

See Boosie BadAzz Post Yung Bleu’s Alleged Music Publishing Details Implying That Bleu is Being Taken Advantage Of

See Rappers and Hip-Hop Artists Who Sold Their Publishing for Huge Payouts

I’ve had the honor of getting to be the curator for the Walnut Valley Festival’s NewSong Showcase for the last few years, and I’m looking forward to MCing the winners’ showcase at the festival in a week or so. I’m also looking forward to the songwriter track events coming up at the IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh. With all that in mind, here’s one from the archives for the songwriters, and for what it’s worth, I really did get a song pitched to me using the phrase “no obligation to record.”

There’s a perception in some places, in Nashville especially, that songwriters and publishers are becoming overly aggressive in their song-pitching strategies.

I have to respectfully disagree with this viewpoint, and below I will submit my argument that, in fact, people aren’t pitching their songs aggressively enough.

While it is true that in Nashville you can’t go anywhere in town (the ball game, the supermarket, church, the hospital emergency waiting room, etc) without getting songs pitched to you, this is more a problem of song and songwriter quantity and concentration than it is a problem of pushy marketing. There are just a lot of people doing it, and it’s accepted in Nashville, that with the exception of a memorial service (the reception afterwards is fine), you should just expect to have a song pitched to you anywhere.

Take this recent scene in a Nashville area tire store:

Cashier: Looks like we have a set of Integra tires in your size available for a decent price.

Me: Okay.

Cashier: By the way, I noticed some CDs of yours on the floor of your car. Are you a country artist?

Me: Not really.

Cashier: Well, I’m a songwriter in town. This is just my day job for now. If you’re interested, I just wrote a really good one about taking a truck full of beer down by the river.

Me: Careful, I might steal that idea (followed by forced laughter). What’s it called?

Cashier: “Truck by the River.” Well, here’s a copy of the demo. Check it out. Tires will be ready in an hour.

Me: Thanks.

There was nothing particularly aggressive or predatory about this exchange. Some feel that you should be able to buy a set of tires in peace, but this is, after all, “The Music City,” not “The Leave-People-Alone-While They’re-Spending-Too-Much-On-Tires City.”

The fact is that most of the songwriter and publisher solicitations I receive are really pretty timid. I was sent a link to a song recently with a one-paragraph pitch that contained the phrase, “no obligation to record.” I ask you, in this highly competitive market, is it good business to make people feel less obligated? Of course it isn’t.

I would suggest that songwriters should not only foster a sense of obligation, but they should consider using a play for sympathy and/or veiled threats to help drive the point home. Remember, you’re trying to get songs cut, not make friends.

Here are a couple of possible strategies you might consider using in a song-pitching email:

“I began writing songs fifteen years ago, and since I made the decision to become a full time songwriter, I’ve lived a life of abject poverty and sadness. I currently live in a tent on the roof of the ASCAP building in Nashville (no one has noticed me there yet), and I subsist almost entirely on a diet of stale crackers and cream of mushroom soup. I don’t own a can opener, so I gnaw the cans open with my teeth. I know you’re busy living the luxurious and successful life of a bluegrass musician, and probably feel no particular need to listen to any of my little songs, but if you would just see your way clear to record even one of them, I think I would have the strength and resources to go on.”

That’s the kind of obligation I’m talking about. Another approach is based on the old chain-letter model, which has been so seamlessly adapted to the medium of email:

“Dear Friend,

I’m sending this letter to you and fourteen other recording artists. There is a lyric sheet and MP3 of an original song, Smells Like Lonesome, attached. I’m not the writer of the song (though I do own half the publishing). To continue this chain, please forward this to fifteen of your own friends, preferably the ones with record deals. 

No one is sure where the song came from originally, but through this email, it has been around the world several times. The former King of Spain, Ferdinand Castellano XVIII (or ‘Dave Evans’ to his friends) performed the song for his daughter Isabella, and she was blessed with her first child that year.

On the other hand, trouble has rained down on those who have deleted this email and failed to forward it to their recording artist friends. One young musician deleted it and three hours later, he was struck and killed by a train, and he was sailing on a ship at the time.

One woman listened to the demo, but failed to forward it, and she was later hospitalized with severe food poisoning from a bad tuna sandwich.”

This will make people think twice before they ignore this song.

I’ll admit that I’m not really qualified to talk about aggressive marketing strategies, since I don’t even pitch songs at all, myself. I rely almost exclusively on people hearing one my songs by accident, and then recording a cover version (also by accident).

You know what they say, though, “those who can’t do, teach.” In that spirit I will be leading an IBMA seminar this month entitled “Ignore My Demo At Your Peril: Using Fear To Sell Your Songs.” 

I would suggest you sign up for this . . . if you know what’s good for you.

It was there, and then it was gone.

Rolling Stones fans are in a state of high anticipation as the legendary band has been stealth-teasing their sure-to-be a blockbuster upcoming album, “Hackney Diamonds,” in sneaky adverts and unexpected locations. 

The campaign continued in Brooklyn Monday night with a laser projection of the album’s artwork onto the eastern tower of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Drivers who happened to be headed toward Manhattan at roughly 9 p.m. were presented with a “shattered” version of one of the most famous logos in music history, the Big Red Mouth (aka “Hot Lips” logo) created in 1970 by Brit designer John Pasche.

The team responsible for the projection — operating out of a black pickup truck loaded with equipment — conducted the operation with military precision, then quickly wrapped up and drove off.

According to the Audacity website, former Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr and former Stones member Bill Wyman are included on the album; new songs credited to Keith Richards, Michael Phillip Jagger and Andrew Watt were recently registered with the music publishing company ASCAP. 

On Tuesday, a countdown clock on the site hackneydiamonds.com indicated seven days to the album’s release.