Well, which one?
Do Merlin There is one Streaming Scam Issues driven by a few immoral members?
Alternatively, by discarding the most recent permission discussion, Tik Tok Created a scenario in which it would business interests through breakup Merlin’s Negotiating an independent membership group?
Guess what? Two things can be true at the same time.
I’m sure Tik Tok Not hating the prospect of union busting Merlin.
Tik Tok Now basically forcing all Merlin’s Member labels and publishers must accept direct agreements or lose the ability to monetize their music on the platform. (fact Tik Tok Operate your own independent artist distribution platform, Voice controla rival to many Merlin members, is another factor worth considering.
However…this alone does not negate its advantages of Douyin The allegations at the heart of the altercation are: Merlin representative party Uploaded heavily manipulated A (i.e. accelerated or slowed down) version of an existing sound recording copyright arrive Tik Tok and claim royalties.
Behind the scenes for the past two years, Tik Tok Already warned Merlin on multiple occasions Hundreds of active tracks The group’s tracks (that is, tracks uploaded by its members) have been flagged for copyright infringement.
A recent example: I understand that in the first quarter of 2024, Merlin Detailed list sent over 1,000 tracks Content from TikTok/ByteDance has been flagged internally as suspicious (i.e. potentially “manipulated”).
What’s the culprit on this list? Independent, ahem, “artists” market their work through dealers Merlin member. (One particular red flag: more than 500 in 1,000+ The tracks for the first season are all credited to various uploaders whose names begin with “DJ”.
Meanwhile, a source with evidence of communications said that by 2022, Tik Tok warn Merlin Hundreds of tracks in its repertoire have been marked as “invalid or infringing” or are likely to be marked as “invalid or infringing.” These tracks are available Over a billion views exist Tik Tok Spanning a period of six months.
To understand what’s going on may be related to Merlin— As a proud participant in the fight against streaming fraud – First there are some key background notes.
First: It is understood that some of the larger Merlin members, including beggars group and empire, Already licensed directly Tik Tok and other DSPs through their own transactions.
every few years, Merlin Represents its more than 500 members in competition for new deals with digital services such as TikTok. Merlin The members are then provided with the opportunity to opt-in to the agreement.
In some cases, larger independent companies choose to participate (e.g., dealing with Chinese DSPs); in other cases, they opt out, choosing instead to enter into their own unilateral contracts.
Inevitably, when like beggar choose go out any given Merlin deal, which reduces the market share of so-called “premium” independent labels, Merlin Represents that specific DSP.
At the same time, it Increase market share independent publishing company And, uh, less “premium” tags… they probably won’t be as disdainful of streaming fraud/manipulation beggar, empire You are
While all of this is true, it still doesn’t fully explain the sudden acceleration Douyin Contempt for suspected illegal activity Merlin member – so that Byte bounce Licensing negotiations with an independent collective were abandoned.
I say it again: one factor may well be Tik Tok Explore business opportunities for tooth removal Merlin’s Negotiation block.
But maybe another important catalyst could be in Part of Universal Music Group Recently signed agreements Tik Tokwhich comes after the fallout rocked the music world earlier this year.
when UMG Confirm its freshness Tik Tok May deal, major music companies. claimed that, as part of the agreement, Tik Tok once promised “The protection provided [UMG’s] Industry-leading list on their platform”.
What is the biggest threat to the (human) roster? Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing and AI-manipulated music Uploading to Tik Tok No restrictions.
Through this lens, Douyin Decide end discussion Merlin Recent commitments to other premium music players are likely to accelerate – esp. UMG.
How Merlin’s membership has changed
The root of this story is the change of appearance Merlin’s constituency and how in recent years the organization has seen a series of DIY distribution platform Enter its membership Together with its core founding team High quality independent record label.
when Merlin Founded in 2008, it’s generally a collaboration of quality independent brands – beggar, secret, epitaph, One is seeking to create a powerful negotiating group that could essentially become a “fourth coalition.”
since then, Merlin This proposition faces some existential threats, particularly the acquisition or partial acquisition of key members by non-Merlin players.
A sample of these acquisitions:
These deals and others like them have eliminated key players Merlin’s membership, Threatening to weaken its negotiating leverage with music DSPs.
However Merlin Its ranks are not allowed to shrink. Actually, Its membership exceeds double past 16 years.
In 2008, when Merlin After it is established, it is surrounded by 300 members (i.e. labels and distributors) Approximately represents 12,000 tags/rights holders Total.
This membership base, Merlin At that time, it was said that around 10% Global digital music market share.
Today, organizations represent Over 30,000 tags/rights holders through and more than 500 Labels and Distributors.
according to Merlinthis expanded base now represents 15% Global digital music market share.
However, questions remain about the costs of such expansion. Merlin’s cohesion As a membership organization.
Incentives and Principles beggars groupFor example, with VC-backed DIY distribution services such as Release boy or amuseboth joined Merlin past ten years.
Also, incentives/principles beggar type label will obviously very different from those whose main goals are Accessing gaming platforms through unfair means Extract royalties from music’s digital ecosystem.
in short, Representative member of Merlinand more generally “non-primary” independent departments, have become Awkward arranged marriage Parties with vastly different motivations. and, in some cases, completely different moral values.
beggar boss Martin Mills — Chief Architect Merlin’s The original formation – pointed out this exact issue in an interview on Merlin’s website earlier this year.
“In addition to the premium independent brands that are at our core, there are a lot of people showing up on our doorstep that we didn’t expect,” said mills of Merlin’s evolution.
“A lot of people showed up [Merlin’s] Beyond the premium independent brands that are at our core, there’s no doorstep we didn’t anticipate.
Martin Mills, speaking earlier this year
“Now our world is not just what is traditionally called independent labelbut through artist services corp. and those whose job is to deliver rather than create value, and Not necessarily have the same interests or business philosophy“.
Mills added: “We ended up getting more Members are a mixed bag More than we expected, this creates its own tensions.
It helps to accept that Explain why beggars and Secret Group, Domino, !K7, Guerrilla, Ninja Song, and others recently created the independent “think tank” ORCA.
obviously, Oka’s The mission statement states that its members are “committed to investing in and promoting the growth of music as culture and business.”
Clearly, these companies are not happy to sit on the sidelines. Charge illegal royalties from the streaming service. To put it more bluntly, they steal from each other.
In fact, these companies are strongly and publicly opposed to doing so.
A wider church…a bigger budget
Merlin’s Membership growth brings direct commercial benefits to the organization and the ability to fund the expansion of its presence in the music business.
A little-known fact: when Merlin Founded in 2008, it describes itself as a “not-for-profit institution” and is owned by its members through a legal entity located in the Netherlands.
This changed in 2020, when Merlin re-registered as an Ireland-based company: Music and Entertainment Rights Licensing Independent Network Ltd.
Today, Merlin says it “runs like a not-for-profit” and we can see how it does: its financial data from 2020 can be perused via UK Companies House.
These financial data represent a company, in part because Its membership base is rapidly expandingrepresenting members’ growing collections 20+% each year.
Merlin continues to pay Exceed 98% Royalties collected from its members.
However, its My annual expenses have also grown significantly, approx. double Between 2020 and 2022; in the latter year, it spent £8.95 million ($9.7 million) Regarding administrative costs.
money Merlin The annual fees used to cover these administrative costs are generated by a commission structure.
Under this structure, Merlin charges each member 1.5% arrive 3% Digital royalties from deals they choose to participate in.
[Merlin charges you 3% unless you also agree to become a member of your local indie trade body, in which case Merlin’s commission is reduced to 1.5%. While said local indie trade bodies have made a number of tenable criticisms about TikTok in recent days, one wonders how motivating this commercial association has been in them rallying around Merlin. The past two weeks have seen TikTok-bashing comments issued in support of Merlin from – count ’em – IMPALA (Europe), A2IM (US), CIMA (Canada), BIMA (Belgium), AIM (UK), UFPI (France), LIAK (Korea), ABMI (Brazil), IMICHILE (Chile), IMNZ (New Zealand), WIN (global) and more.]
to some extent, Merlin – as an authorized representative in the “non-primary” music field – has never been stronger.
It raises more money on behalf of more members than at any time in its history.
but hospitable 30,000+ The joining of different copyright holders in its alliance is not without risk.
Professional practices that may be unacceptable to a person Merlin A member may now be in the center of another member Merlin member Business plan.
find unity in it all potential dissonance It’s not easy – especially when Powerful digital services Use this as an excuse to walk away from the table and out the door.global music business
