Moj owner ShareChat raises $502m at a valuation of $2.1bn - Music Ally
After signing up 50 million Moj users in its first month, ShareChat raised a $40m funding round; struck some music licensing deals; and tapped Audible Magic for copyright-detection technology, while also fielding rumours that western tech firms Google and Snap wanted to invest in the company.
Read the full article by Music Ally here.
Are EU Member States Making Progress with Article 17?
With the June 7th, 2021 deadline looming for EU Member States to implement the 2019 EU Copyright Directive, many wonder about the timing of individual country transpositions or if there will be delays. The transposition is a process whereby each member state passes legislation to give force to the directive in that country. Although Covid-19 slowed progress, all major EU countries are making headway in their transposition process and are expected to meet the June deadline. The one significant exception is the UK, no longer part of the EU because of Brexit. The government has said it will not be implementing the directive.
To ensure the benefit of the new safe harbor provisions, online content-sharing services that make copyright works, such as music, publicly available in user-generated content will need to understand how and when the law is transposed by each member state. For example, The Netherlands has completed the transposition of the law and has specified that it will go into effect as of June 7, 2021.
We are watching this process carefully since some countries have considered adopting additional or different implementation measures in their transpositions. This could cause service providers to have a requirement to adjust their plans for each country they stream content to.
To learn more about how Article 17 will impact your business, we have included more resources at the end of this summary.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands became the first EU member state to implement the directive on December 28th. Their implementation is mostly a literal transposition of the directive’s provisions, but it also includes a provision that allows the Ministry of Justice to provide further rules on the application of the Article 17 implementation.
Germany
On February 3rd, Germany’s government approved their latest proposal, which was revised in response to feedback from rightsholders and platforms. This draft states that without a corresponding license, platforms must block uploaded copyrighted content; however, short excerpts are presumed permitted by law and may not be blocked by automatic means. The law is scheduled to be debated in the legislature in March.
Austria
The Austrian Ministry of Justice completed the first proposal in December, which borrows elements from previous German proposals, including a direct remuneration right for creators, users’ ability to pre-flag uploads as legitimate, and a threshold that protects minor uses from automated blocking.
France
France passed an authorization law on November 18th, allowing them to implement provisions of the directive by administrative decree. This law specified that the decree implementing Article 17 must be issued 6 months from its passing, which would be April 18th. France's draft law proposes a literal adaptation of Article 17.
Finland
Finland’s proposal relies on the mandatory use of ACR (Automated Content Recognition) technology by platforms. Rightsholders would be required to review infringing uploads before issuing a blocking request, and users would be able to challenge blocks through an independent alternative dispute resolution mechanism.
Denmark
Denmark announced that it would implement Articles 15 and 17 during the parliamentary year and the rest of the directive after the summer. Like the Netherlands, the Denmark transposition is a literal adaptation of the EU Copyright Directive.
The UK Copyright and Creative Economy Centre, based at the University of Glasgow, maintains possibly the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource on national implementation at https://www.create.ac.uk/cdsm-implementation-resource-page/.
Check back for more updates on Article 17 in the coming months. The following resources will help you understand how Article 17 may impact your business.
- What is Article 17?
- Take our A17 assessment to see how Article 17 affects your business.
- Understand how small social networks are impacted by the copyright directive.
This blog is issued for informational purposes only and is not intended to be construed or used as general legal advice. Please contact the author(s) or your Audible Magic Corporation contact if you have questions regarding the currency of this information.
All information is accurate as of March 8, 2021
Sources
https://www.twobirds.com/en/in-focus/copyright-directive
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-02/04/c_139719400.htm
Takwene Protects Artists’ Rights and Manages Their Catalog with Audible Magic’s RightsRx™ Plus
The award-winning MCN and distributor supports
creators from production to rights protection.
The company's name, Takwene, the Arabic word for “create,” reflects its commitment to providing comprehensive support for artists, often musicians, to produce and succeed online. The Middle Eastern focused multi-channel network (MCN) and distributor launched in 2011 just as the Arab Spring began. Undaunted by the crisis, the Takwene development team focused on building their music distribution platform. The investment paid off as they became the first and only YouTube Certified Partner in the region shortly thereafter.
Continued growth drives the search for Automated Content Recognition Solutions
In 2015, Takwene began registering their audio and video with Audible Magic to protect against unauthorized use on UGC hosting platforms. In 2019, Takwene became the biggest music library in the Middle East, hosting over 100,000 audio and video assets, including Bedouin and Libyan music. The company was also hosting a wide variety of content from creators in the United States and the European Union.
The growing company needed a solution to prevent uploads of unauthorized copyrighted material to their digital service providers (DSP) and to proactively manage ownership conflicts in their international catalog.
Accuracy, scalability, and an international registry were key
Because of the variety of music and the scope of their growing catalog, Takwene needed an automatic content recognition (ACR) vendor that had an extensive international music registry combined with a highly accurate and scalable service to minimize costly human intervention. Although they looked at several ACR providers, Audible Magic’s RightsRx Plus service provided the best match for their requirements.
Prevent the upload of unauthorized copyrighted content and identify catalog conflicts with RightsRx Plus
RightsRx Plus compares a submitted track against an extensive music registry and responds with applicable ownership information to help maintain a catalog free of unauthorized copyrighted content and conflicts. This quick scan helps distributors maintain their status with DSPs and resolve ownership issues with other rightsholders.
“We needed a service that would minimize human intervention, which can be costly. The solution had to be highly accurate and scalable for our expanding business, and accommodate the metadata complications when encoding a diverse catalog merging folkloric Bedouin, Oriental & Nubian Music.” said Ayman Konna, CEO of Takwene. “Audible Magic easily fit the requirements, and the team appreciated the quick integration. We were scanning tracks within a day.”
Challenge: Prevent copyrighted material from being uploaded to DSPs as well as manage conflicts in their catalog. Handle RTL and different metadata encoding.
Solution: Audible Magic’s RightsRx Plus
Key Requirements: Extensive international registry, minimal manual intervention, scalability, accuracy.
Audible Magic Surpasses 100 Million Tracks
Audible Magic the First to Surpass 100 Million Music Tracks
Comprehensive rights-managed music catalog supports streaming, download, fitness, UGC, and other branded services
Los Gatos, Calif. – Feb. 23, 2021 – Audible Magic announced their rights-managed catalog has surpassed 100 million tracks, a first in the space. This milestone gives Audible Magic the largest business-to-business rights-managed catalog available.
The impressive catalog, which contains tracks from over 400,000 labels, is part of the long-established MediaNet content fulfillment and rights administration business purchased by Audible Magic in January 2021. Audible Magic is now the leading provider of content identification, licensing, media fulfillment, and rights administration services to digital music and social media platforms.
The catalog is a result of close relationships with record labels and publishers built over 20+ years of successfully launching music services around the world. It also required the development of a sophisticated rights management platform to take account of the constant changes in rights ownership, and the accelerating numbers of new tracks being released. In 2020 alone, Audible Magic saw a 67% increase in new releases added to their catalog, ingesting, on average, 12,000 new albums every day. This is a massive undertaking and is unmatched in the industry.
Coupled with a 100M tracks catalog, digital platforms can access a variety of Audible Magic’s turnkey music licensing solutions for a variety of services including fitness applications, short-form video, streaming, and downloads. Additionally, Audible Magic’s flexible solutions enable platforms to leverage their own licenses as well as Audible Magic’s pass-through licenses when applicable.
“We are excited to offer an exhaustive music catalog that provides tracks from major and indie labels across an array of territories throughout the globe,” said Vance Ikezoye, chief executive officer of Audible Magic. “Coupled with our services, our customers can focus on creating incredible user experiences, while we take care of the arduous task of rights administration and royalty payments.”
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, provide fulfillment solutions, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of monthly transactions. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary between major platforms and rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives). The company works with a wide range of platforms and rights holders, including Facebook, Twitch, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, ShareChat, Vimeo, NBC Universal, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, The Orchard, CDBaby, and DistroKid. For more information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/.
Audible Magic Acquires SOCAN's MediaNet - Hypebot
Canadian PRO SOCAN has sold its global content fulfillment and rights administration service MediaNet to Audible Magic.
Read the full article by Hypebot here.
Audible Magic acquires rights administration business MediaNet from SOCAN - RightsTech
SOCAN and Audible Magic have also announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with the goal to use Audible Magic technology and services to help SOCAN improve operational accuracy and reporting to publishers and songwriters. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Read the full article by RightsTech here.
Audible Magic Acquires Rights Administration Business MediaNet from SOCAN - Music Business Worldwide
Digital content identification, licensing, and monetization platform Audible Magic is acquiring content fulfillment and rights administration business MediaNet from Canadian performing rights organization, SOCAN.
SOCAN and Audible Magic have also announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with the goal to use Audible Magic technology and services to help SOCAN improve operational accuracy and reporting to publishers and songwriters.
Read the full article by Music Business Worldwide here.
Frequently Asked Questions regarding Audible Magic’s Acquisition of MediaNet’s Business
On Monday, January 11th, 2021, Audible Magic and SOCAN announced that the companies had entered into an agreement to transfer SOCAN’s content fulfillment and rights administration business to Audible Magic.
Understandably, many content partners and customers of both MediaNet and Audible Magic have questions about what this means to their day-to-day interactions and services they may have been receiving from each company. We hope that the information below will provide some guidance, but always, feel free to reach out to us for further information. Both teams remain fully committed to our content partners and customers.
When does this acquisition go into effect?
The acquisition will be effective as of January 6, 2021.
Why is Audible Magic making this acquisition?
This acquisition enables Audible Magic to offer a unique one-stop-shop solution for digital service providers and UGC hosting platforms looking to manage copyrighted content. Audible Magic will be able to offer licensing, rights management, and royalty administration as well as industry-leading content identification services.
What are the benefits to Audible Magic customers?
Current Audible Magic customers will now have access to a full suite of content management services including licensing, rights management, royalty administration, and media fulfillment.
What are the benefits to MediaNet customers?
MediaNet customers will gain access to the gold standard in content identification services so important for accurate attribution of copyright, licensing, rights administration, and reporting.
Will there be any changes to the services provided to MediaNet or Audible Magic customers?
Both Audible Magic and the MediaNet teams remain committed to all existing customers with the same level of support.
Are there changes to my contacts at MediaNet or Audible Magic for business or technical issues?
We do not intend to change your primary business contacts currently. If you do have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Will there be changes in how content partners should deliver content feeds?
There will be no immediate changes in how a content partner sends feeds to either Audible Magic or MediaNet. However, we will be looking into options to make the process easier for our content partners moving forward.
Will there be any changes to the processing of royalty payments or accounting reports?
The processes currently in place will continue as before the acquisition. As the two companies merge, we will be looking for opportunities to provide improved processes to benefit our content partners and customers. If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected].
Are there changes planned to MediaNet customer billing and invoicing for services?
Yes, invoices will be issued with an Audible Magic logo starting in January. You will have access to your invoices and statements via an online portal. You will receive a link via email to set up your account within the portal, as well as a user guide for questions and assistance. Remittances should be made per the instructions on the invoice.
Audible Magic Acquires MediaNet’s Business from SOCAN, Integrating UGC & Premium Music Solutions
Audible Magic to offer “one-stop-shop” for music licensing and copyright compliance
Los Gatos, Calif. – Jan. 11, 2021 – Audible Magic and SOCAN announced the companies have entered into an agreement to transfer SOCAN’s content fulfillment and rights administration business of MediaNet to Audible Magic. Audible Magic is the leading provider of identification and compliance solutions to social networks hosting user-generated content (UGC). SOCAN is the Canadian performing rights organization. MediaNet has a long history of delivering turnkey white label digital music solutions for Internet radio, subscription music services, on-demand streaming, and support for fitness and gaming applications. With this acquisition, Audible Magic can now provide digital platforms a comprehensive range of services to enable and manage the use of music.
Audible Magic provides solutions for music licensing, content identification, and rights management to social media platforms. This acquisition extends its capabilities to deliver bespoke licensing from hundreds of labels and publishers, media files for more than 92 million tracks, full rights management, and royalty and payment administration. This portfolio of services will enable social platforms to more easily exploit the opportunity for both music in UGC and premium content. According to a recent MIDiA Research report, The Rising Power of UGC, there is a projected $6 billion opportunity in the appropriate use of audio and video for streaming of music in UGC alone.
“Rightsholders and platforms will both benefit from our combined solution and will reduce the time and complexity of managing and paying for the use of music,” said Vance Ikezoye, Audible Magic chief executive officer. “We see significant upside in enabling incremental revenues for the music ecosystem.”
SOCAN and Audible Magic also announced they have entered into a strategic partnership with the goal to use Audible Magic technology and services to help SOCAN improve operational accuracy and reporting to publishers and songwriters.
“The acquisition of the MediaNet services by Audible Magic creates long-term benefits for SOCAN’s members and clients,” said Jennifer Brown, Interim CEO of SOCAN. “Audible Magic is a knowledgeable and skilled company and we’re looking forward to working together to improve the accuracy of reporting to publishers and songwriters.”
SOCAN acquired Seattle-based MediaNet in 2016. By legal agreement, terms of Audible Magic's acquisition are confidential.
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of monthly transactions. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary between major platforms and rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives). The company works with a wide range of platforms and rights holders, including Facebook, Twitch, SoundCloud, Dailymotion, ShareChat, Vimeo, NBC Universal, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, The Orchard, CDBaby, and Distrokid. For more information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/.
About SOCAN
SOCAN is a rights management organization that connects more than four-million music creators worldwide and more than a quarter-million businesses and individuals in Canada. More than 160,000 songwriters, composers, music publishers, and visual artists are its direct members, and more than 100,000 organizations are Licensed To Play music across Canada. With a concerted use of progressive technology and unique data as well as a commitment to lead the global transformation of rights management, SOCAN is dedicated to upholding the fundamental truths that music and visual arts have value and creators and publishers deserve fair compensation for their work. For more information: www.socan.com.
Contact:
Adriana Saldaña
Sterling Communications for Audible Magic
+1 408-395-5500
EMS and Audible Magic Tackle Industry-Wide Issue of Verifying Music Rights Ownership
Audible Magic’s RightsRx enables EMS to proactively protect artists from fraudulent ownership claims
Los Gatos, Calif. – Nov. 17, 2020 – The Encoding Management Service (EMS), a technology service provider for digital music, audiobooks and eBooks, announced it has partnered with Audible Magic, the gold standard for content identification and leading provider of rights management and automatic content recognition (ACR) solutions. EMS is using Audible Magic’s RightsRx™ to prevent an industry-wide concern of fraudulent ownership claims by bad actors, attempting to steal revenues from the legitimate artists and rightsholders.
“There’s no question that Audible Magic is the partner of choice to help strengthen our rights management procedures, given their industry standard trusted and proven technology,” said Chris Bornefeld-Ettmann, EMS managing director. “We’re thrilled at how easily and quickly we implemented RightsRx into our existing workflow.”
Audible Magic’s RightsRx enables EMS to resolve ownership conflict claims prior to upload by identifying fraudulent submissions, as well as catalog conflicts when artists submit through multiple distributors.
“EMS is a major industry player and their effort underlines the continued trend of distributors proactively managing their catalogs to prevent unauthorized music from entering the digital music ecosystem,” said Vance Ikezoye, president and chief executive officer at Audible Magic. “We’re the best solution in the industry to ensure distributors can keep their catalogs clean from unauthorized content.”
Every month, Audible Magic searches billions of files looking for copyright content registered by over 140,000 record labels and music publishers. Its comprehensive reference registry contains tens of millions of registered works representing music from over 150 territories, with hundreds of thousands of new tracks added each month. Search results operate on files as short as five seconds and typically complete in one second or less, with virtually zero false positives.
For additional information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/rightsrx/.
About Audible Magic
For more than 20 years, Audible Magic has innovated solutions to identify content, manage rights, and monetize media. Audible Magic’s Emmy-winning automatic content recognition (ACR) technology powers billions of transactions monthly. The Silicon Valley pioneer is the trusted intermediary among rightsholders (including labels, studios, distributors, publishers, and collectives) and major platforms. For more information, visit https://www.audiblemagic.com/.
About EMS
The Encoding Management Service - EMS GmbH is a technology service provider for the digital entertainment industry. For more than 10 years now, EMS’ logistical solutions for digital contents enable fast and secure ripping, encoding and delivery of audio, video and eBook data to online retailers, aggregators and other services worldwide. EMS is one of Spotify’s recommended Delivery Platforms and listed Encoding House with Apple. EMS’ clients’ roster includes renowned distributors such as GoodToGo, Indigo, mbassador, TBA, Tonpool Digital, wordandsound and ZEBRALUTION. EMS is a member of the ZEBRALUTION Group since July 2019.
Contact:
Adriana Saldaña
Sterling Communications
[email protected]
+1 408-395-5500