Global rights agency Merlin turns five this year with a growing roster of 20,000 independent
labels, and a catalog of three million tracks from 35 countries. Merlin represents 10% of the global and US digital music markets, the largest share outside of the 3 major label groups.
A new analysis shows Merlin members’ 2012
share of leading streaming services is eclipsing this overall digital share by
margins of up to 20%. The agency expects to collect over $65 million on behalf
of its members from streaming in 2013.
Merlin opened for
business in May 2008 to provide a central clearing house for independent music rights for music services ranging from Spotify to MySpace. Merlin has also fought copyright infringement and negotiated settlements on behalf of indies with Limewire, XM-Sirius Satellite Radio and
Grooveshark.
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