Surround Taps Fabian Alsultany as New Director of Business Development, North America

Bitfury Surround, the music and entertainment blockchain ecosystem, has brought on experienced music and tech executive Fabian Alsultany as its first North American hire. Alsultany will work with Surround’s Berlin-based team to lay the groundwork for a new approach to music rights management and creativity in the US and Canada. Surround is the music and entertainment arm of Bitfury, the Amsterdam-based innovative global technology company.

AIMS API Announces Collaboration with Universal Publishing Production Music

European AI-powered music recommendation and audio search company AIMS API (AIMS) is announcing an alliance with Universal Publishing Production Music (UPPM), the world’s leading production music company and a division of the Universal Music Group.

SyncFloor Partners with Motor Music, Launches Motor Music SyncSite

SyncFloor, the commercial music marketplace, is announcing its partnership with Motor Music, bringing the label’s catalog to more potential sync buyers via its newly launched Motor Music SyncSite. SyncFloor’s SyncSites allow its rights holder partners to surface a sync-oriented website that presents thematic, customized blocks of tracks and allows potential users to search for and find tracks from within the partner’s catalog, using natural language and cultural references.

SyncFloor Hires Business Development Manager

SyncFloor, the commercial music licensing platform, has announced the hire of Shellie Lewis as its first business development manager. Lewis will guide the startup as it builds relationships with advertising, TV, film, gaming, and music professionals to expand SyncFloor’s customer base.

Music Tectonics Seals Los Angeles as Music Tech Hub with Second Conference

Everyone in music and tech is talking about Los Angeles. The recovery of the music industry has given L.A.-based label headquarters new life. The convergence of Hollywood, gaming, live performance, and tech makes the city ripe for cross-vertical innovation. After a successful, fire-leaping first year, the Music Tectonics Conference is coming back to Los Angeles, October 27-28, 2020.

The inaugural Conference tackled several seismic shifts taking place in music ranging from how music production is in the hands of the masses to the inevitable push to transparency. A theme that will continue to play out in music in 2020 is “Music Like Fire,” the idea that music and licensing is crossing into new fields from fitness to furniture.

Bandpay Set for March 2020 Debut; Milestone-based Payment Platform Guarantees Trust Between Collaborators

A singer with a vision for a new single is looking for a producer. She asks around, finds a guy who’s a friend of a friend and sounds promising. They come to terms, she pays him–only to get ghosted. She’s got no track, and now she has to raise money from scratch, doubling the cost of the single.

This story and its like happen regularly to artists, managers, and other music professionals. “A shared scene or network implies trust, but that trust is too often broken, either explicitly or due to misunderstandings,” says DeCarlos Garrison, a music business veteran and serial tech entrepreneur. “I’ve experienced this problem first hand. We knew there was a way to solve it.”

The solution is Bandpay, a fully customizable payment platform that allows two parties to establish milestones in a project, assign payments to each milestone, and guarantee that funds are available to complete a transaction.

Pex’s Free Attribution Engine Empowers Rights Clarity for Online Video, Audio

Pex, the service that fingerprints, tracks, and attributes online audio and video content, has launched a powerful new product for content creators, rights-holders and platforms –completely free of charge.

Synchtank Partners with Education Non-Profit Charity London Grid for Learning

Synchtank has partnered with London Grid for Learning and a prominent production library to provide high-quality music to students and teachers in London schools. Synchtank’s software will make it easy to surface licensed tracks for school activities, from assemblies and performances, to in-classroom listening and student presentations and videos.

It will also guide students toward a better understanding of intellectual property rights.

CD Baby Hires First International Representatives in India, Continues Fast-Paced Global Expansion

CD Baby has announced the hiring of a notable Indian music professional to its rapidly expanding network of international representatives. It is the first large international artist services and distribution company to do so.

New Project From Teosto, Revelator, and BMAT Focused on Faster Payments for Music Rights Holders

In an industry-first partnership, Revelator, BMAT, and Teosto, have demonstrated a new standard for paying rights holders (songwriters and music publishers) faster by processing near real-time monitoring of BMAT radio performance royalties in conjunction with Teosto’s proprietary data set and using Revelator’s Data Management Platform & Original Works’ smart contract-powered Artist Wallet.

LiveXLive, Afro Nation Launch Exclusive Content, Distribution Partnership

LiveXLive announced that it has partnered with festival organizer Afro Nation. A global content and distribution agreement which grants LiveXLive exclusive livestreaming, video, video-on-demand, virtual reality, mobile, theatrical, and television rights, the partnership launches with a livestream of the debut Afro Nation festival, taking place August 1st through 4th on the beaches of Algarve, Portugal.

NEXTUNE Brings SESAC Music to Its Streaming Business Music App

NEXTUNE Music, based in Bellevue, Washington, now features SESAC music in its licensed music service for businesses. NEXTUNE Music, available in the Apple App Store since July, featured ASCAP-, BMI- and GMR-licensed music for restaurants, retail shops and many other public background music systems.

Beginning in October, NEXTUNE’s music service will include music from SESAC’s more than 30,000 songwriters such as Adele, Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and other popular artists. NEXTUNE’s iOS App offers business owners the best way to get the music they want without having to obtain separate public performance licenses from ASCAP, BMI, GMR, SOCAN and SESAC.