The MLC Begins Full Operations

The highly anticipated License Availability Date set by the landmark Music Modernization Act of 2018 (MMA) – when digital audio services can begin operating under a new blanket mechanical license covering every musical work available on their U.S. services – has officially arrived, ushering in a new era in mechanical licensing led by The Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC).

As of January 1st, 2021, The MLC has officially begun administering this new blanket license established by the MMA.

The MLC Teams with Blokur, Exactuals, Music Data Services, TuneRegistry

The MLC is announcing that four music data companies are joining its Data Quality Initiative (DQI): Blokur, Exactuals, Music Data Services, and TuneRegistry.

Through their work with The MLC, these companies will make it much easier for their users and customers to participate in the DQI and check the accuracy of their musical works data in The MLC’s current database.

Tuned Global Appoints Andrew Stess to Lead US Expansion

360º B2B music streaming & technology specialist Tuned Global has appointed Andrew Stess to the newly created role of Head of Sales and Business Development for the USA.

Stess will support the company’s growth in the USA, given his strong reputation for deal-closing and relationship building, as well as his expertise in digital music technology. He will report to Spiro Arkoudis, Chief Revenue Officer, and will be based in San Francisco.

Linkfire Partners with YouTube, YouTube Music, Making Streaming Data More Accessible to Artists and Labels

Linkfire, the music industry’s most popular smart link platform, announced today that it has partnered with ​YouTube​,​ ​the world’s leading content platform with over 2B active users per month,​ ​and ​YouTube Music streaming service.

The partnership provides artists, managers, and labels with more transparency around how link click-throughs to YouTube and YouTube Music translate into streams on those services.

Viberate Releases New Analytics Tool for Artists and Their Teams

If you’ve ever posted anything online and waited for the likes and views to pour in, you know just how much content you’re competing against. Now imagine you’re an aspiring musician, looking to get noticed in the sea of streams. Or, conversely, if you’re a label or festival organizer looking to discover exciting new talent to work with.

There’s a New Music Tool Designed to Analyze Spotify Playlists

We recently discovered a cool, new music tool designed to analyze Spotify playlists, to see if they have real listeners. Known as Is It A Good Playlist?, the playlist analyzer is free to use and based on the Discovered On data from Spotify.

Just go to the website, copy/paste the playlist link, and then you’ll see the analysis + result.

We caught up with Julien Mahin, the man behind the new music tool, to get his insight on playlists, streaming platforms and more.

rightsHUB Integrates with Leading Music Recognition Tech Companies

Music rights data and asset management platform rightsHUB has integrated data delivery feeds with five leading music recognition technology (MRT) companies to enable its users to register songs with MRTs in a single upload.

The integration of Gracenote, DJ Monitor, BMAT, Soundmouse and Yacast into the first stages of the metadata supply chain sees rightsHUB delivering a key part of the toolkit to tackle issues around mismatched metadata and royalty payments. Having the ability to easily register songs with MRTs prior to release will mean that rights holders are supplying accurate and rich metadata to their partners early on; thus assisting PROs and CMOs in reporting.

GuildOne, Beatdapp Agree to Three-Year Blockchain Technology Partnership to Transform Music Streaming Royalty Payouts in India, Japan

Calgary-based blockchain developer GuildOne and Vancouver-based Beatdapp announced a three-year exclusive agreement to manage digital rights related to streaming media services in India and Japan using blockchain technologies.

Beatchain’s New Mobile App Opens Window on World of Music Data, Promo

Independent artists are driving music industry growth. They need every tool they can to understand what’s happening with their music–who’s streaming where, what’s up with their social following–yet often those tools are buried in a dozen dashboards.

Beatchain, the simple, innovative marketing and distribution platform, links these scattered resources into one powerful hub for artists and their teams.

AIMS API Finds Similar Songs via AI Developed by Production Music Experts

Somewhere among those 100,000 tracks in your production music catalog is the right one for that TV, film, video, or game. Trouble is, you or your client have to find it. “It’s common for people to be surprised at what they have in their catalog,” says longtime production music professional Martin Nedvěd. “People can know a few thousand tracks at most, but never the entire catalog.”

Music Festivals Hit Hard by Coronavirus: This Startup Has the Data

With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc across the world, music festivals are announcing cancellations or postponing dates on a daily basis. This puts economic strain on not only the performing artists, event organizers, and the teams involved, but also on anyone with flights, hotels, and festival tickets already booked and paid for months in advance, now struggling to get info in time to get their bookings refunded.

To help everyone stay on top of things, Slovenia-based music data company Viberate has put together a comprehensive list at www.sickfestivals.com, updated daily.

Dance Needs Data: Viberate Demonstrates Big Data’s Power via IDMA Nominations, at WMC

Viberate is bringing data-driven insights and a better approach to award nominations to Miami this month, as part of Winter Music Conference.

First, the live music data platform has surfaced nominees for the WMC’s high-profile International Dance Music Awards (IDMA), with the final award going to the nominee who receives the most votes. Viberate will also be hosting a panel on the WMC Main Stage with media and industry voices addressing the importance of data for live music and festivals.