Electronic Musician Four Tet Wins Major Streaming-Royalty Dispute With Domino Records

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLaPolt Law, the Los Angeles-based music and entertainment firm founded by Dina LaPolt in 2001, is elevating five of its attorneys to partner. The promotions, effective immediately, reflect their contributions to the firm, which specializes in intellectual property law, music law and public policy.The new partners — pictured above (back row, l-r) Kristin Wenning, Mariah Comer, Lindsay Arrington and (front row, l-r) Dominic Chaklos and Tom Dean, with LaPolt in front — have expertise in a range of issues, including brand partnerships, catalog sales, executive contracts, and projects in emerging media such as NFTs, Web3.“They are all zealous advocates for our clients,” LaPolt said of the attorneys.

shared by WJBK-TV.Someone on stage reportedly asked the crowd to pray for the legendary Latin rock guitarist due to a “serious medical” issue.The “Smooth” artist was then taken off stage on a stretcher, and was seen waving to the crowd as crew members tried to block the transport with a black sheet, a clip posted to Twitter showed.Santana was overcome by heat exhaustion and dehydration, but was “doing well” later Tuesday night, a representative for the rocker told TMZ.He reportedly felt woozy and sat down in front of the drums early in his set, before collapsing backwards.Santana has performed 32 dates since March 25, according to his website.He reportedly took some time off the road after undergoing an “unscheduled heart procedure” in December, according to Variety.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorVeteran guitarist Carlos Santana passed out onstage during a concert at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan on Tuesday night, according to social media posts and video, but was treated quickly and was seen waiving to fans as he was wheeled offstage.Santana’s rep did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment.Carlos Santana waved to clapping fans as he’s helped off the stage pic.twitter.com/YA55N4QCZe— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 6, 2022 Tuesday evening’s incident took place during Santana’s summer-long “Miraculous Supernatural 2022” tour with Earth, Wind & Fire, which launched on June 17 and is scheduled to continue through the end of August. Just two weeks later, the musician, 74, is slated to resume his longstanding Las Vegas residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas through the end of September before resuming for two more weeks in November.Late last year Santana underwent what his management described as an “unscheduled” heart procedure that caused the cancelation of that month’s residency in Las Vegas.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe French audio streaming service Deezer made its debut on the Paris Euronext market Tuesday and immediately plunged 35% from its €8.5 opening, rising slightly to level off at around €6.2 by late in the afternoon.Earlier this year the company, which is one of the world’s largest streaming services despite a relatively low U.S. profile, merged with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with an eye toward going public at a $1.13 billion valuation.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period.The rate was decided in 2018, but streaming services Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora appealed the following year, arguing that the increase will make their business models untenable in light of the billions of dollars that they already pay in royalties.While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4%, as decided.However, in a minor win for the streaming services, the TCC rate, or percentage of label revenue, has been capped, and the definition of bundling — the “family plans” and other discount packages — has reverted to an earlier definition more favorable to the services.

Fred Again.., has released a new track called ‘Jungle’ – check it out below.The track – which contains a sample of Elley Duhé’s 2017 track ‘Immortal’ and also features a production co-credit from Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden – follows Fred’s February team-up with I. JORDAN (formerly India Jordan) ‘Admit It (U Don’t Want 2)’.Prior to that, Fred released two albums in 2021 – his April debut ‘Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020)’ and November’s follow-up ‘Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021)’.Listen to ‘Jungle’ below:Speaking on his previous collaboration with I.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd’s opening acts for his global stadium tour, which launches in his hometown of Toronto next Friday, will be R&B singer Snoh Aalegra, Canadian electronic artist Kaytranada and top DJ/producer Mike Dean, his team reveals in an exclusive interview with Variety. The full 19 dates, noting which acts are playing in which cities, appear below.The tour’s original opener, Doja Cat, pulled out last month to undergo throat surgery, and although “the phone was ringing” with calls from interested parties, according to Omar Al-joulani — Live Nation’s president of touring and a Toronto native who has worked with the Weeknd since 2014 — the choices reflect the artist’s long practice of having up-and-coming acts open his tours, even one as massive as the stadium show that will work its way across North America (slowly) through Labor Day weekend before moving on to the rest of the world.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for major record labels, the Free Artists From Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act failed to pass out of the California State Senate’s Judiciary committee late on Tuesday night.According to a report in Billboard, the act, also called AB Bill 983, received four votes, two short of the six needed to reach a majority from the 11-member committee.The bill was the latest in a long campaign to repeal a 1987 amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists if they leave after seven years after their contract was signed before delivering the full number of albums required under the contract. Labels can also sue artists for damages.Artists’ rights groups — including the Black Music Action Coalition, Music Artists Coalition and Songwriters of North America — decried the decision but promised to continue the fight.

EXCLUSIVE: Euphoria‘s Eric Dane will star alongside KJ Apa in the motorcycle racing film One Fast Move, from Gulfstream Pictures and Luber Roklin Entertainment, which has entered production in Atlanta.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe negotiations over streaming-service royalties are one of the most complex, contentious and important battlegrounds in the contemporary music industry, pitting some of the world’s largest companies — Amazon, Apple, Google/ Alphabet, Pandora/ SiriusXM/ Liberty Media and upstart Spotify — against music publishers and labels.It’s so contentious that even as the battle over rates for 2023-27 approaches later this year, the rates for 2018-22 still have not been determined: In 2018, the Copyright Royalty Board, which determines rates for publishers but not labels, ruled that streaming services must pay approximately 44% more in publishing royalties. In 2019, the four streaming services appealed that decision, arguing that they already pay out billions of dollars in royalties and such an increase would make their business models untenable.

CMU’s Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Four Tet and Domino’s settlement of their legal battle over what royalty rate the musician should be paid on streams and what it could mean for other artists, plus Belgium’s decision to add equitable remuneration to streams and IMPALA’s plea to other European countries not to follow suit.SUBSCRIBE TO SETLISTListen to Setlist and sign up to receive new episodes for free automatically each week through any of these services…Acast | Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | audioBoom | CastBox | Deezer | Google Podcasts | iHeart | Mixcloud | RSS | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneInSTORIES DISCUSSED THIS WEEK• Domino Records settles Four Tet dispute, commits to pay 50% royalty on digital• Domino comments on Four Tet settlement, insists no precedent set• Belgium introduces ER right on streams• IMPALA calls for French style agreements on fair digital remuneration instead of ERALSO MENTIONED• French performer and label groups reach voluntary agreement regarding digital remunerationMORE FROM CMU• Upcoming CMU webinars• Buy MMF and CMU Insights’ Dissecting The Digital Dollar book on Amazon• Sign up to receive the CMU Daily news bulletin• Listen to the full Setlist theme tune

It appears that Avril Lavigne has been a big fan of a popular Adele track for quite some time.

Domino Records has issued a statement following the news earlier this week that it had reached a settlement with Four Tet ending an on going legal battle over digital royalties. The label was keen to stress that it had made various previous efforts to settle the dispute, while also adding that – because the matter was settled out of court – no precedent has been set regarding how old record deals should be interpreted when it comes to sharing streaming money.Four Tet, real name Kieran Hebden, sued Domino in a dispute over what royalty rate he should receive on streams.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorGeneration Now, the Atlanta-based label imprint founded by DJ Drama, Don Cannon and Leighton “Lake” Morrison, has extended its joint venture partnership with Atlantic Records. The partnership launched in 2015 and labels have launched the careers of Jack Harlow, Lil Uzi Vert — who collectively have achieved a whopping 30 billion-plus streams globally — and many others.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSteve Cooper, CEO of Warner Music Group for the past 11 years, will step down next year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal that was confirmed to Variety by a rep for the company.The transition will be a gradual one, the rep emphasized, as the company seeks a suitable successor.Warner is the third-largest major music group, after Universal and Sony, and Cooper has run it with a firm, calm and non-flamboyant hand through the first decade of the streaming era and as it went public for a second time in the early months of the pandemic in 2020. The company earnings were declining at the time of his arrival and he not only reversed that trend but doubled its revenue and embraced new technologies and business opportunities.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCity of Hope, one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the United States and a leading research center for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, announced that its Music, Film and Entertainment Industry group’s 2022 Spirit of Life Gala will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Jack Johnson.The gala will take place Oct. 27, 2022, at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles — the first after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorEpix has announced an upcoming four-part docuseries titled “My Life as a Rolling Stone.” Tied to the band’s 60th anniversary, each episode will focus one of the band’s four core members (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and the late Charlie Watts). The series premieres on August 7.“My Life as a Rolling Stone” is directed by Oliver Murray (who helmed “The Quiet One” the recent documentary on longtime Stones bassist Bill Wyman) and Clare Tavernor (“Keith Richards: A Culture Show Special”), and executive produced by Steve Condie, senior VP of content at Mercury Studios.

Four Tet has reached a settlement in his high-profile royalties battle with his former label Domino, securing his original claim.The producer and DJ, whose real name is Kieran Hebden, signed with Domino in 2001 for the release of his second album ‘Pause’ before going on to release ‘Rounds’ (2003), ‘Everything Ecstatic’ (2005) and ‘There Is Love In You’ (2010) on the label.But, last November, Hebden revealed that Domino had removed three of those albums (‘Pause’, ‘Rounds’ and ‘Everything Ecstatic’) in a bid to stop a legal case that he launched last August over historic downloads and streaming royalty rates.Hebden claimed that the label is in breach of contract over its 18 per cent royalty rate, which Domino applied to record sales, and that a “reasonable” rate of 50 per cent should have been given to downloads/streams.The contract between Hebden and Domino, which was signed in February 2001 long before the proliferation of streaming platforms and the first iPod, stated that record sales are subject to a royalty rate of 18 per cent.In a statement posted on social media today (June 20), Four Tet said: “I have a bodacious update on my case with Domino. They have recognised my original claim, that I should be paid a 50 per cent royalty on streaming and downloads, and that they should be treated as a license rather than the same as a CD or vinyl sale.“It has been a difficult and stressful experience to work my way through this court case and I’m so glad we got this positive result, but I feel hugely relieved that the process is over.