Music Publishing News Weekly Roundup May 2, 2014: Spotify + Sprint, Imagen, Music Advocacy & More
Spotify has partnered with Sprint in an effort to further promote the streaming service and increase users in the United States. With this deal in place, Sprint customers will now have access to the premium paid version of Spotify for a free trial period of up to 6 months. Beyond the initial 6 months, Sprint customers on the “framily plan” (up to 5 people) will have access to the premium service for a discounted $8 per month. The premium subscription based service is normally $10 per month and allows users to save songs to playlists as well as listen ad free on any device.
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Imagen is looking to be sold for $650 Million. One the world’s largest independent publishers, the company controls the publishing and administration rights for contemporary artists such as Daft Punk and Justin Timerblake as well as classical composers Serge Prokofieff and Igor Stravinsky. Dutch Pension Fund ABP, the partial owners of Imagen, are hoping to exceed their investment of approximately $650 million spent in acquiring the classic catalogs of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Boosey & Hawkes, and Rondor by this summer.
Paul Williams has announced the “Music Advocacy Project”. During last week’s ASCAP EXPO, the president and chairman announced a new plan to lobby for music licensing reform. His five-point plan is an attempt to modernize the current music licensing system in a way that benefits the creators and owners of musical copyrights. This announcement comes along with the Songwriting Equity Act legislation which was recently introduced to congress.
