Music publishing, new laws passed by Congress, and why Music influencers are the future for your lifestyle brand.

On June 30th, the Wall Street Journal posted an article explaining that:

“…publishers and performing rights groups must license 100% of a song — even if they only own or represent part of it.”

Why is this important?

It’s no secret, for years the music industry has relied on teams of songwriters, artists, and creatives to create hit records. Songs crafted for heavyweights like Rihanna, Katy Perry, and Beyonce can have up to 10 contributors per song, making it a complicated mess for all parties to get paid. I personally have written songs for some of the top artists in the business such as P!nk & Eminem, and have seen the big machine take almost 3 years to see any royalty returns by the time legal matters cleared up. Music companies bank on the fact that creatives will get burnt on collecting their royalty checks, or can’t afford to sue the majors to get what they deserve. The entire “business” relies on the instant returns from touring, and merchandising, period.

With the new legistlation just put into place, the future of music publishing is EVEN MORE volitile, since in order for an artist to license a song — their own company must handle the entire royalty distriubtion of all of it…not just their own artist on their roster.

Ok…so what?

You thought artists were broke now, just wait…it’s going to get worse. According to the wallstreet journal, a top industry executive recently stated:

“ There is no infrastructure in place to support the Justice Department’s proposed approach, they added.”

Bottom line: Artists / Musicians are about to get hungrier than ever not being able to collect royalty payments for their projects. Your hard earned money you pay to Spotify goes directly to Labels, not the artists unless they have the money to afford a stellar attorney, and even care to go down that rabbit hole.

One more thing…Remember back in the day the term “selling out”?

The psychological shift from artists not wanting to “sell out” for the sake of artist integrity has completely gone out the window, except for a select few. As their bank accounts diminish, artists actually now look at reprenting products as an extension of their own branding — realizing it’s actually another creative outlet for them outside of their talent. I.E. Snoop Dogg, Will.I.AM, Dr. Dre, Megan Trainor, the list goes on. Another benifet to brand partnerships? The cash is instant, and artists like money now better than money later.

This is why music is more brand-centric than it’s ever been before. Plus, the rate of consumption w/ tech to aid has grown at a rate of 15% since 2015. That’s insane! Do you see that happening to Chefs? Comedians? Not to mention music is a GLOBAL language. K-Pop is now as popular as the Backstreet Boys.

While there are so many other influencers to choose from, you will absolutely get the most bang for your buck from a music influencer…they are absolutely desparte to create new income streams, and have international presance. Those that create partnerships / alliances now with these creators will forge the future of the new music industry 2.0.