Digital Notes: 50,000 Are Owed Royalties, Agency Says

By BEN SISARIO

SoundExchange, which collects royalties for digital streams and Internet radio, is looking for 50,000 artists and labels that are owed money.

The agency, created in 2000, pays performing artists and record labels when their music is played on services like Sirius XM and Pandora - a royalty that the music industry has long sought, since terrestrial radio pays only songwriters and publishers. But SoundExchange has struggled to make itself known and get artists to fill out the necessary paperwork, and it has been criticized within the industry for being slow to sign musicians up. It currently has 70,000 accounts for performers and another 24,000 for labels and other copyright owners, a spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday, SoundExchange unveiled a database of artists and labels that are owed these royalties, technically known as a performance right for recordings. There are, of course, thousands of little-known acts that might be owed only small amounts. But some are surprisingly renowned: the Broadway star Laura Benanti, the dance producer Skrillex, even Robin Williams - yes, that Robin Williams, as in Mork from Ork. (In addition to music, SoundExchange collects royalties for comedy and spoken word recordings, of which Mr. Williams has at least six.)

Artists and labels must register by Oct. 15 or “risk losing royalties collected three or more years ago,” the agency says, although in past years it has often given amnesty to latecomers. SoundExchange did not say what the uncollected royalties were worth, but in June the agency announced that since its founding it has paid out $1 billion.

Young, Old and YouTube: In music, the generational divide comes down to radio versus YouTube.

According to a new study by Nielsen, teenagers prefer listening to music on YouTube over any other format: 64 percent of consumers aged 13 to 17 listen through the video site, which is owned by Google, while 56 percent listen to the radio and 50 percent to CDs. For those 18 and over, the priorities are reversed: 67 percent listen on the radio, 61 percent to CDs and 41 percent to YouTube.

Radio remains by far the most popular way for listeners over all to find out about new music: 48 percent “discover music most often” on the radio, compared to only 7 percent through YouTube, according to the study, which was based on a survey of 3,000 people online.

“While younger listeners opt for technologically advanced methods, traditional methods of discovery like radio and word-of-mouth continue to be strong drivers,” David Bakula, a senior analyst at Nielsen, said in a statement.

Liberty Buys More Sirius: In the latest step of its slow takeover of Sirius XM Radio, Liberty Media has increased its stake to 48 percent, from 46 percent, according to a regulatory filing late Tuesday.

Global Digital: For the last year, digital music services have been racing to establish themselves in markets around the world. Here are the latest moves:

• Vevo, the music video site owned by Universal Music and Sony, is expanding to Brazil, its sixth country. The site has a syndication deal through YouTube, although over the last year it has been in negotiations over a possible move to another platform, including Facebook.
• Deezer, a French subscription streaming service, has been looking to open everywhere around the world except for the United States, which it considers a saturated market dominated by Spotify and Rhapsody. Techcrunch reports that Deezer is expanding to Asia, with its service opening in Thailand this week, and Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines coming soon.
• Simfy, popular in Germany and available in a few countries in Europe, is opening in South Africa.

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.