Industry Bros Talk Industry Loopholes
And now for some music industry gossip:
So I was hanging in Miami last week for Ultra (a.k.a. fist-pumping hell) when I overheard two well-known “industry bros” quietly discussing the intricacies of music publishing, an emerging area of neighboring rights, and other ways to collect a check while doing nothing but sitting on a tropical beach. I inched my yoga mat closer. Apparently, if an album is recorded in the United States, the artist can collect royalties only on performance of the publishing, but not the master. However, if an album is recorded outside of the United States (Europe, Latin America, Canada), then pursuant to something having to do with international neighboring rights and the Rome Convention, the artist can collect royalties on performance of the publishing AND on performance of the master. Cha-ching!
What’s the lesson? All those broke rappers should save up and cut that next album in Mexico. Loophole! However, according to the industry bros, the problem is that there is no unified regulatory body to collect these royalties (such as ASCAP) so the poor industry bro “artist” is left to farm the job out to occasionally-unscrupulous international independent music publishing agents or companies who never seem to give an honest accounting of what is owed.
Tis the nature of a music bro…
