5 Interesting Talking Points in the Business of Music Licensing in September

Editor’s Note: I’m particularly excited about this piece not only because is it very insightful, but most importantly as it’ll be the first guest piece on this newsletter. This piece was beautifully put together by Unique Oliver, an entertainment businessman with core competencies in Music Licensing and Publishing (Film, TV, Video Games and New Media) | Music Supervision(African Content). Unique is also Mavin Records’ Music Licensing & Publishing Cordinator.

The month of September was filled with amazing stories in the business of licensing ranging from dispute resolutions to Mergers and Innovative use of Music. The Top Five takeout for me includes:

1. FIFA’22 Soundtrack compilation of Licensed Music:

Since the growth of the Video Game Market in 2000s, games have been a perfect showcase of licensed music. Apart from being a showcase, it is also a lucrative way for participants in the music chain to be part of the revenue which is not limited to the right holders but sync agents, labels and publishers. EA Sports announced the list of songs licensed to accompany Gamers on their FIFA experience. The Soundtrack Compilation is divided into two namely FIFA 22 Soundtrack and FIFA 22 VOLTA FOOTBALL. The Soundtrack features a variety of Music of different genres from all over the world. It also consists of an interesting mix of mainstream and upcoming artists. A mind blowing usage of the licensed music for FIFA’22 is the ability to select any song from the soundtrack to play when your team scores a goal. 

2. Roblox, Twitch v. Publishers...Facebook Gaming + Licensed Music:

Not every use of licensed music in Game works smoothly, problems are bound to arise if rights are not properly secured. After a series of copyright-takedown campaigns against Twitch, Twitch finally makes a new deal with the National Music Publishers' Association. This is coming after the announcement of the partnership involving Warner Music Group (WMG) and Twitch which heralds a positive solution to the availability of licensed music for use on the platform. In the same vein, Roblox with a community of more than 48 million daily active users settles copyright licensing disputes with Music Publishers. On the bright side, Facebook Gaming expands streamers access to a library of licensed music that will enable them to play tunes while streaming gameplay without experiencing take down messages from Right holders except there is a restricted license.

3. More Apple Music and Spotify DJ Mixes: A win for rightholders?

Apple Music is adding a Shazam-powered upgrade for streaming DJ mixes using the audio identification technology.  In a territory like Nigeria where DJ mix is used a lot for music played outdoors there is indeed a demand for a solution that ensures the composers and artists get paid. The audio recognition app, Shazam which was acquired by Apple in 2018 may be a solution as the streaming market slowly expands in developing territories. Who gets paid? Everyone that is part of the track from individual creators to others in the chain which includes event promoters, mix suppliers like festivals, club nights and labels, and various artists in the compilation. In the same vein, Spotify launches its DJ Mixes feature in selected territories. With this feature, artists can upload mixed music, not just the regular playlists.

4. Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Supervision:

“The Primetime Emmy Award is an American award bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming.” The Music Supervisors category was created in 2017 to reward outstanding Music Supervisors whose responsibilities includes but not limited to Music spotting, Negotiation for Music License of Music and Royalties Tracking. Nominees for this year included Music Supervisors for Programs such as: I May Destroy You, Bridgerton, The Crown, Halston, Lovecraft Country, The Queen's Gambit. Ciara Elwis and Matt Biffa (who is also the Music Supervisor for Sex Education 3) were awarded Outstanding Music Supervision for the British drama television series ‘I May Destroy You’.

5. Tiktok owners to Launch a new Streaming Service:

With over a billion monthly active users, the role Tiktok plays in song discovery and streaming spikes is of utmost importance. Tiktok owners ByteDance, in the bid to launch soonest will proceed to secure licensing deals for users to stream music on the new streaming app. Notwithstanding, Commercial music has always been distributed to Tiktok in addition to music in the General Music Library for use on Tiktok. Will this be a step in making Tiktok the music streaming Giant? Well, Bytedance has been in the business of streaming through the launch of "Resso" a streaming platform set up to rival streaming giants in India which is claimed to have the largest population compared to any other territory.