March Newsletter
The year has been busy with no signs of slowing down for our clients! Here’s what’s happened the past few months.
Jaybird is Headed to SXSW!
Jaybird clients Deborah Mannis-Gardner, Jessica Vaughn, OpenPlay, Daytripper Music Publishing, and Angry Mob Music are headed to SXSW for panels and events. Interested in setting up a meeting or getting more information about each one? Please reach out to bill@jaybirdcom.com, who will also be attending.
- March 14th at 10am CT – Deborah Mannis-Gardner and Jessica Vaughn will be panelists on the “Music Licensing Beyond Web2” panel.
- March 14th at 11:30am CT – OpenPlay’s Edward Ginis will be speaking at SXSW on the panel titled “The Impact of GDPR for Music Rights Holders.”
- March 14-16 – Daytripper Music Publishing will be the key sponsor of the SXSW Song Camp! Angry Mob artist Joey Verskotzi will also be in attendance.
Welcome to the Flock!
Welcome to the flock to our newest clients Martin Clancy and Jessica Vaughn of Head Bitch Music.
Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP)
The AIMP Los Angeles Chapter has opened up applications for their 2023 Linda Komorsky AIMP Scholarship for full-time students in an accredited, music industry studies bachelor’s degree program located in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. This year’s award will be in the amount of $4,000. The Scholarship committee presented at the four eligible schools USC (Feb. 13), Cal Poly Pomona (Feb. 20), UCLA (Feb. 22), and CSUN (Feb 23). Applications close on April 5th, and the Scholarship winner will be honored at an AIMP LA event on May 18th.
The AIMP LA Chapter was also recently featured in the Billboard piece titled “AI, Twitter & ‘Realistic’ CRB Reform: NMPA’s David Israelite Outlines Agenda at AIMP Summit,” highlighting their recent event “State of the Union for U.S. Music Publishing” with David Israelite on February 2nd during GRAMMY week. Kristin Robinson breaks down everything David discussed and what the year ahead looks like for the Indie Publishing community. Read more here.
The AIMP Nashville Chapter hosted the “Things You Didn’t Know You Needed To Know: Publishing Royalty Flow and Copyright/E&O Insurance” panel on February 17th. Moderated by Trina Smith-Dort (Owner, Me Gusta Music) and featuring panelists Brent Daughrity (Partner, Anderson Benson) and Grayson Stephens (Senior Director of Royalties & Finance, Big Machine Label Group), this panel focused on how publishing royalties are collected and how copyright insurance works. The session dove into the specifics of where the money comes from for publishing royalties, types of income, how it’s dispersed, and more. The event was also featured on Music Row.
The AIMP New York Chapter hosted the “Melodies Without Borders: Navigating Multi-Territory Licensing for Online Usage” webinar on February 23rd, focusing on how publishers can navigate the lucrative international marketplace of digital rights to maximize collections for their repertoire. The panel was moderated by Phil Cialdella (CEO, Wonderlous Music) with panelists including Tomas Ericsson (CEO, AMRA), Sarah Williams (CEO, IMPEL), and Fabian Niggemeier (CEO, Mint Digital Services, AG).
Angry Mob Music
Debra Delshad, the Senior Director of Synch and Music Licensing at Angry Mob, was recently featured in Variety. Lily Moayeri interviewed three female executives of Iranian descent on how they are using their roles to make an impact in the music industry. In the article, they ask Debra about any memories of Iran, her thoughts on what is happening within the country right now, what it is like being an Iranian woman in this industry, and more.
CCS Rights Management / Daytripper
Ishk?dé Records, an Indigenous and women-owned label dedicated to amplifying and advocating for Indigenous artists, songs, and stories in the commercial landscape, has entered into a joint venture to launch their publishing arm with CCS. The CCS team will supply administrative support and expertise through their network and creative support for any signings identified by Ishk?dé through songwriting opportunities, synchronization placements, song camps, co-writes, and more.
CCS Artist Tate McRae is again a multi-Juno award nominee, tying for the second-highest number of nods with five, and Rezz, who has previously won two Junos, is up for awards in both the Dance and Electronic categories this year. McRae was also tapped as one of the first performers to be announced for the live awards show on March 13.
DDEX
DDEX has launched their new Knowledge Base. It has all the same material with new and improved navigation that makes information much easier to access and find for all users. You can view the new knowledge base here.
On April 12, the DDEX Secretariat will be attending and speaking on a panel at the Rio2C Conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The panel will discuss the importance of standards in tracking of music rights and usage on audio and audio-visual platforms. For more information, click here.
DDEX will also be holding their 41st Plenary Meeting and BIG Summit in London, UK from April 17-19, 2023 and on April 20, 2023 respectively.
Interested in becoming a member of DDEX? Click here.
Deborah Mannis-Gardner
Deborah was recently interviewed by OkayPlayer, HipHopDX, featured on the Music Ally Focus podcast, and quoted in the New York Times, to discuss her work clearing samples for the long-awaited release of the De La Soul catalog on streaming services for the first time. In the interviews, she talks about her experience on this project, working with the members of De La Soul, how this compares to sample clearance projects for other artists, and more.
Martin Clancy
Dr. Martin Clancy, a founder of Irish rock band In Tua Nua and an expert in artificial intelligence (AI) and music, has released his first book, “Artificial Intelligence and Music Ecosystem,” which is now available for purchase through publisher Routledge’s website. The book explores the benefits and risks of generative AI in music and offers ideas for using AI as a tool for artistic growth while also addressing ethical and intellectual property concerns. He also recently discussed music AI issues with outlets such as Lifewire, the Hot Press (which named him Hot for Tech 2023), the Irish Daily Mirror & Star, No More Workhorse, talk radio program Moncrieff, and the Irish Times, which stated “There is so much to be gained from this book and from the concepts it explores, and Clancy is an excellent guide.”
Made in Memphis Entertainment (MIME)
“F.N.F (Let’s Go)” by GloRilla and Hitkidd, which was recorded at 4U Recording Memphis and engineered by 4U’s Kyle Javello, was nominated for Best Rap Performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards. GloRilla was also invited to perform the song as part of the show’s tribute to the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, alongside legends including Big Boi, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, DJ Drama, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Missy Elliott, Future, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Rahiem & Scorpio, Ice-T, Lil Wayne, Swizz Beatz & The Lox, Method Man, Nelly, Public Enemy, Queen Latifah, Run-DMC, Salt-N-Pepa, Scarface, Black Thought, Questlove, LL Cool J, and Too $hort.
OpenPlay
OpenPlay will be hosting a webinar as part of the Music Biz Common Ground Webinar Series titled “The OpenPlay Network Effect: Beyond Proprietary Systems,” on April 20th, from 2pm-3pm ET. The webinar, hosted by OpenPlay Co-Founder Edward Ginis, will walk attendees through OpenPlay’s various features, show them how it works, and give them a glimpse into a future beyond proprietary systems. For more info and to register, click here.
OpenPlay has continued hosting webinars geared towards beginners and power-users of their platform. In their webinars, attendees are introduced to new tools, features, tips and tricks, as well as Q&A sessions to better understand the most effective ways to utilize the platform. You can watch clips from their webinars on YouTube by clicking here.
NY Tech Alliance
During Black History Month, and throughout Women’s History Month, the NY Tech Alliance has been recognizing and celebrating the many incredible men, women and non-binary individuals who have graced their stage at NY Tech Meetups to present and demo transformative tech, shared subject matter expertise during Forum events to provide perspective, and participated in Founder Spotlights to tell their story and inspire other founders as they pursue their own journey of building a business. You can read each of their blog posts on their blog here.
On March 13, the NY Tech Alliance will be hosting their first NY Tech Meetup of 2023 in partnership with Equal Entry. The meetup will focus on the latest innovations related to assistive tech, and will feature presentations from companies and presenters who are are working on transformative technologies in the areas of sight, voice, hearing and mobility. Click here to attend virtually or in person.
Reel Muzik Werks
Reel Muzik Werks (RMW) recently celebrated the company’s 14th birthday with an open house at their Nashville office.
RMW artist A-Wall recently achieved an RIAA-certified Gold Single for his song, “Loverboy”. Watch the video here.
RMW also recently launched Tunes Without Borders, a partnership with India-based band Shor Police to expand their music to English-speaking cultures. The first single from the project, “Monopoly Money,” was released on March 1st, and will be featured on their upcoming album Well, Hello. Make sure to follow Reel Muzik Werks and Shor Police on socials for all of the latest updates on the partnership.
rightsholder.io
In February, rightsholder.io shared the data they collected that reveals major gaps in duplication and song registration for songs nominated in the top categories at the 2023 Grammy Awards. As of January 7, 2023, this information has revealed that in North America, 10% of the nominated songs were not detected to be registered with the region’s rights societies. This increases to 20% in Europe & UK and 33% in Asia-Pacific. Further, a third of these works were found to have duplicate registrations, which can mean songwriters and publishers may be missing out on monies if these are not reconciled in their royalty administration systems. Click here to read about it in Platform & Stream.
rightsholder.io recently launched their blog! Their first blog is a look into why there are so many music catalogs being bought and sold recently. You can read their thoughts here.
Verifi Media
We are excited to welcome Verifi Media back to the mix! In early February, the Verifi team welcomed a great group of people for their first Metadata Roundtable at the HQ of Verifi Rights Data Alliance (VRDA) member Deezer in Paris. At this event, they discussed core issues impacting labels, publishers, CMOs, distributors, and others. Click here to read the blog post about the event.
Meet Laurie’s New Feline & Equine Friends
Laurie has added a few men to her life recently… of the equine and feline kind! Watermark, aka Toledo (as in, “holy Toledo he’s huge” – on the bottom right) has been part of the family since 2019. In January, she began leasing Dragonfly (left) to get back in the show ring. But T and D can’t live in her apartment, so she and her family welcomed the Orange brothers, William and Frederick, in February. They have made short work of completely taking over!