Spotify, Apple, Other Streaming Services Pay Nearly $425 Million in Royalties to Songwriters, Publishers

Former Vice President Mike Pence is coming to TV, or at least streaming. Pence will narrate a four-part limited series for Fox News Media's streaming service Fox Nation.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will narrate a four-part limited series on the life of Rush Limbaugh for Fox News Media’s subscription streaming service Fox Nation.

Paramount+ finally made its launch on Thursday.  In addition to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, viewers will be able to opt for CBS's rebranded streaming service.  With Hollywood blockbusters like "The Godfather" and "Mission Impossible" to popular TV series like "Blue Bloods" and classic throwbacks like "Frasier," the newest streaming service offers an eclectic mix of programming.  Here’s a look at what other TV shows and movies Paramount+ has to offer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSquare, the payments-processing company led by CEO Jack Dorsey, announced plans to buy a “significant” majority stake in Tidal, the music and entertainment streaming platform run by Jay-Z.Square said it expects to pay a $297 million, in a combination of cash and stock, for the Tidal stake, with existing artist shareholders the remaining stakeholders. Tidal will operate independently within Square.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSquare, the payments-processing company led by CEO Jack Dorsey, announced plans to buy a “significant” majority stake in Tidal, the music and entertainment streaming platform run by Jay-Z.Square said it expects to pay a $297 million, in a combination of cash and stock, for the Tidal stake, with existing artist shareholders the remaining stakeholders. Tidal will operate independently within Square.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSony Music Publishing has partnered with Silence the Shame to launch “The Soundtrack of Mental Health,” a global multi-year program which will offer songwriters, employees, and the greater music community educational trainings and support around mental health.

Kevin Mayer, whose long tenure at Disney culminated in the successful launch of Disney+, is joining sports streaming outfit DAZN as chairman.

fighting for several years to preserve the "theatrical window", a period of exclusivity that once lasted six months but has been steadily shrinking since the turn of the millennium. A bombshell decision by Warner Bros to release all its 2021 films immediately on HBO Max in the US drew backlash from actors, cinema bosses, the Directors' Guild of America and Warner Bros' own star director, Christopher Nolan, as well as a lawsuit threat from producers.

SoundCloud has announced that it will become the first streaming service to direct the fees of paying subscribers to the artists they listen to, a move previously backed by musicians who have criticised the economics of streaming.Leading streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music currently operate on a system where royalty payments are dished out in accordance with which artists have the most plays.But it has been criticised by artists further down the ladder, who say that the system

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn what may be the first move of its kind in the music-streaming world, SoundCloud has introduced what it describes as “fan-powered royalties, a more equitable and transparent way for emerging and independent artists to earn money on SoundCloud.” In other words, each listener’s subscription or advertising revenue is distributed among the artists that they listen to, rather than their plays being piled into a collective pool.“Many in the industry have wanted this for

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorUniversal Music Publishing has signed rising British singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone, whose debut EP received a rave review in Variety last fall, to an exclusive, global publishing agreement. The 21-year-old singer was voted No.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSwedish singer-songwriter Zara Larsson has signed with Sony Music Publishing, the company announced Monday morning.

discovery+, Disney+, AMC+) but is a rebranding of CBS All Access, which launched in 2014.Paramount+ will feature everything that CBS All Access already offered along with new shows, a library of movies (some new, such as “Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run” and “A Quiet Place 2”) and live CBS networks (such as BS, BET, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, MTV, and The Smithsonian Channel).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSydney’s The Kid LAROI has signed a worldwide deal with Sony Music Publishing. The artist, songwriter, and producer, whose real name is Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, is currently riding the success of his song “Without You” and 2020 debut mixtape, “Fuck Love.”In his native Australia, The Kid LAROI, who is signed to Columbia Records, is the youngest solo artist to reach No.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs part of a long presentation called “Stream On,” Spotify announced that it will be introducing a hi-fi option later this year, among other benefits for fans and creators.

CBS All Access before it rebrands as Paramount+), high-profile options (HBO Max, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock) and new choices competing for your wallet (Discovery+), it's almost impossible to subscribe to everything --on top of a cable bill.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIndependent label, distributor and publisher EMPIRE has opened a division in the US to help grow the local scene in West Asia and North Africa and its diaspora. To head up the territory, EMPIRE has hired Suhel Nafar (pictured above) as Vice President of Strategy & Market Development.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe widow of Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell has sued the surviving bandmembers again, claiming that she was offered a $300,000 buyout that she considers “ludicrously low” and is calling for the group’s holdings to be professionally valued.

auteur filmmakers who engage in Netflix-bashing, iconic director Martin Scorsese has eviscerated streaming platforms for supposedly devaluing the “art of cinema” due to a lack of “curation.”The legendary “Goodfellas” director — already a noted non-fan of blockbusters from Marvel — dropped the bombshell in an essay on filmmaking icon Federico Fellini published in the March 2021 issue of Harper’s Magazine.While admitting he owes a lot to online film purveyors (“The Irishman” was distributed to