February Newsletter: Leap Year Edition!
Things are jumping here at Jaybird!
Welcome to the Flock!
Symphonic Distribution is a leading music technology and services company, offering a proprietary content management and distribution platform, global royalty collection and split payments, and robust label services to independent labels, managers, and artists. Founded in 2006 by music producer Jorge Brea, Symphonic is 100% independent and proud to be “by artists, for artists.” Headquartered in Tampa, FL and Nashville, TN, Symphonic also has a significant presence in Los Angeles, Miami, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Spain, Ireland, and Africa.
The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is a not-for-profit membership organization that advances, promotes, and invests in the future of the music business by providing a trusted forum where ideas and cooperation flourish. Through events, education, and engagement, the Association brings together the full breadth of the industry for unparalleled access to networking, resources, and thought leadership. Their flagship annual conference, Music Biz 2024, will be held May 13-16 in Nashville.
LyricFind is the trusted source for lyric licensing and data solutions. With more than 19 years in business and access to more than 100,000 catalogs and over 8 million song lyrics, LyricFind is trusted by a growing list of top music platforms, including ByteDance, Amazon, Google, Xperi, YouTube, Deezer, Pandora, and more, providing current, accurate, and fully licensed lyrics. LyricFind’s in-house premium reporting infrastructure precisely tracks and pays royalties to songwriters and rights holders on a song-by-song and territory-by-territory basis. LyricFind’s solutions include LyricIQ: a set of innovative data analysis and filtering tools. Designed to dive into the lyrical content of songs, LyricIQ uses a mix of AI and manual analysis to provide a deeper understanding through lyrics and give businesses more control over their product offering. In 2021, LyricFind launched Automated Lyric Videos, a platform that generates lyric videos in seconds.
Billboard Women In Music
Congratulations are in order for our clients Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Portia Sabin who were named to the 2024 Billboard Women In Music list!
Catch Our Clients at SXSW!
Jaybird is headed to SXSW! Our clients OpenPlay, Symphonic, LyricFind, Howie Singer, and DDEX will all be taking part in panels, book signings, hosting mixers and networking events. Check them out below!
March 12
- LyricFind Party
- 5:30pm – 7:30pm CT (Foxy’s Proper Pub)
March 13
- STEM and OpenPlay Wellness Oasis
- 10:00am – 2:00pm CT (Austin Deep)
- Symphonic: “Data in Music Marketing: Analytics for Success”
- 2:30pm – 3:30pm CT (Austin Convention Center Room 15)
- Symphonic: Symphonic Shindig
- 6:00pm – 9:00PM CT (Malverde)
March 14
- LyricFind:: “Playing the Long Game: Start Building Your Network Now!”
- 10:00am – 11:00 am CT (Austin Convention Centre, Room 17AB)
- Key Changes: Howie Singer Book Signing
- 2:00pm – 2:40pm CT (Austin Convention Center, Room 10C)
March 15
- Key Changes: “Are You For Real: How to Identify AI-Generated Music”
- 10:00am – 11:00 am CT (Austin Convention Centre, Room 17AB)
- DDEX: “Why Does the Music Industry Need More Metadata Integration?”
- 10:00am – 11:00 am CT (Austin Convention Center Room 18CD)
Recent Client News
Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP)
The AIMP Los Angeles Chapter hosted its annual GRAMMY Week “State of the Union for U.S. Music Publishing” with special guest David Israelite, NMPA President & CEO, on February 1st at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. The sold-out event featured a lively discussion covering everything from the Phono IV settlement to the upcoming Phono V conversations, the current music publishing market, The MLC, the Music Modernization Act, and more. Read more about the event on Billboard.
The Los Angeles Chapter will also be hosting its first ever writing camp for songwriters and producers from March 25-28 in North Hollywood. Participants will immerse themselves in three days of intensive writing sessions and have the opportunity to write and record songs for artist and sync briefs. Applications are currently open and the deadline to apply is 6:00 PM on Monday, March 4th. Learn more and apply here.
The AIMP New York Chapter hosted its “Fairly Trained AI: A Conversation with Ed Newton-Rex” webinar on January 25th. This webinar covered the new AI learning certification initiative Fairly Trained and discussed how AI is trained, the types of data collected, and the current approach to remunerating rights owners of the data used vs. “fair use.”
Angry Mob Music
Angry Mob Music announced the promotion of Clare Lee to Manager of Copyrights and the hiring of Dan Goldstein as their new Director of Royalties. Read more about them both on Creative Industries News.
“Promoting Clare to Manager of Copyrights was a natural evolution for her continually impeccable work at Angry Mob the last three years. She’s continued to display a true commitment to serving our writers and artists, and I have no doubt she’ll continue to serve them with the very same level of rigor for years to come,” said Marc Caruso, CEO of Angry Mob. “At the same time, we couldn’t be more excited to bring Dan into the fold at Angry Mob Music. His many years of experience in royalty analysis and accounting are going to provide our entire roster with an incredible level of precision and care, bringing them their well-deserved royalties down to the last penny.”
OpenPlay
OpenPlay’s Co-Founder and Chief Client Officer Edward Ginis was recently featured on the Smartest People In The Room webinar series, where he was interviewed by Jason Feinberg, a top music industry consultant who has held leadership roles at Universal Music Group, Pandora, Concord, and Epitaph Records. The interview covered their early days working together at Concord, the founding of OpenPlay, and how it got to where it is now, as well as some of the most hot-button topics in the industry. Watch the full webinar on YouTube here.
In addition, Jonathan Bender was recently interviewed by Platform & Stream, discussing OpenPlay’s newest features and enhancements, Direct Delivery, decoupling of marketing and digital distribution, and the company’s discomfort with the continuing problem of distributors holding label and artist data hostage at the end of their contracts. Read the full interview here.
OpenPlay also recently hosted their first webinar of 2024, where they highlighted new features including Marketing and Merchandise Support updates, Bulk Editing updates, Artist Tour Date Visibility, and their OpenPlay Connect API Enhancements. The full playlist is available to view here.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner
AMC Theatres recently announced a February 23rd theatrical release date for the documentary “Kiss the Future,” on which Deborah Mannis-Gardner served as Music Supervisor. The documentary covers the struggle of Sarajevo’s citizens during the Bosnian War and how aid worker Bill Carter enlisted iconic rock band U2 to perform there to help raise awareness. It originally premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, and will be available to stream on Paramount+ later this year. You can read more info about it’s release here.
Kat MacLean Daley
Kat MacLean Daley has been tapped by Snoop Dogg to be the first VP & Head of Publishing at his revitalized Death Row Records, which he acquired in 2022. Kat reports directly to him and is responsible for the company’s day-to-day operations in music, with her primary focus being on their newly established publishing business. She is expanding their already existing catalog and roster, as well as building on Death Row’s existing relationships with writers, producers, and estates. Read the full story on Music Business Worldwide.
Hangout FM
Hangout FM by Turntable Labs, Inc., a social platform connecting users through the discovery and curation of music, has committed to fighting fraud from Day 1 by teaming with Beatdapp, the market leader in audit and fraud detection software for music labels and streaming services. Upon its official launch in 2024, Hangout FM will use Beatdapp’s tools to detect and prevent streaming fraud on its platform, following through on its mission to support all players in the industry while providing an engaging, active listening experience for its users. Read more on Music Business Worldwide.
In addition, Hangout FM Founder & CEO Joseph Perla published his op-ed, “What Was AI Made For? AI’s Place in the Music Industry,” in Hypebot. Having studied AI extensively while attending Princeton University, Joseph keeps a refreshingly balanced perspective throughout the article, discussing AI’s potential for weeding out streaming fraud, its pros and cons when it comes to music production, and the problems that result when it is used for music discovery. Read the full piece on Hypebot.
Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME)
Made In Memphis Entertainment (MIME) had a great year in 2023. 4U Recording Atlanta won the Best of Georgia Regional Award for Best Movie and Recording Studio, MIME Publishing client Real Red received RIAA Gold and Platinum certification plaques for his work on Moneybagg Yo’s breakthrough album A Gangsta’s Pain, and MIME President and Managing Director Tony Alexander spoke at several major conferences, including Music Biz 2023, the AIMP Global Music Publishing Summit, NOLA MusiCon, and more. Read the full recap here for all of the details on MIME’s 2023 highlights.
Symphonic Distribution
Symphonic Distribution, a leading music technology and services company for independent labels, managers, and artists, has announced the rollout of four new tools: Transfer Track, SplitShare, Enhanced Recoupments, and new Marketing Drivers. These four new tools represent a significant step forward in music distribution and royalty transparency for Symphonic clients, enabling them to operate with higher efficiency and integrity, save time, more easily manage their finances, and more. Read the full announcement here.
DDEX
DDEX Secretariat Niels Rump took part in the inaugural Music Biz Trust & Safety In Music Symposium in New York on January 9. He took part in the panel titled “Layering The Swiss Cheese: What We Can Accomplish Together,” along with others from CD Baby, Symphonic, Beatdapp, and PEX to discuss solutions to fighting and preventing music fraud.
NY Tech Alliance
On Monday, February 12, the NY Tech Alliance held their NY Tech Meetup featuring six incredible companies and organizations within the gaming sector. The event was hosted at Civic Hall Union Square in the Craig Newmark Event Center with nearly 150 people from a highly diverse cross section of the NYTA community attending.
Presenters included, Urban Arts, NYC Public Schools, Gamr, Bedlam, Heard it All Before and Omnic.
The NY Tech Alliance also announced all their Meetups this year will be held on the second Monday of each month! You can view all the meetups on their website.