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Rhapsody and Napster To Pay Songwriters Up To $10M In Class Action Settlement

The law firm representing musician and artist advocate David Lowery and other songwriters has filed a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement that will see self-published songwriters paid as. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2019/02/rhapsody-to-pay-songwriters-up-to-10-milli

,   and  Bruce Houghton
image from cdn.pixabay.comThe law firm representing musician and artist advocate David Lowery and other songwriters has filed a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement that will see self-published songwriters paid as much as $10 million by Rhapsody and it's Napster music streaming service.The settlement, filed in the US District Court Of Northern California will pay self-published songwriters $35 for every composition that Rhapsody played that is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, and $1 for every unregistered composition the service played at least 24 times with a cap of $10 million.The national Music Publishers Association has already settled with Rhapsody, and a similar indie artists class action settlement with Spotify was settled for $42 million last year.Rhapsody has also agreed to create an artist advisory board with an annual budget of at least $30,000 to promote the service as a creator-friendly platform, and add an artist referral program that pays artists $10 fee for each subscriber they refer. “We weren’t just looking at money,” attorney Sanford Michelman told Billboard. “Artists also have non-economic rights, as well as this board and a voice on business practices.”Hypebot will follow the settlement and let independent artists know how they can collect their fair share.

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