Spotify's sneaky songwriter pay move and Blackstone vs. Concord: Talking Trends Artwork

Music Business Worldwide

Music Business Worldwide (MBW) is the leading information and jobs service for the global music industry. It publishes two podcasts: The weekly series, Talking Trends – which dives behind the biggest headlines in the music industry – as well as The MBW Podcast, which sees us interview some of the leading figures in the global business.

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Music Business Worldwide

Spotify's sneaky songwriter pay move and Blackstone vs. Concord: Talking Trends

April 26, 2024 • Music Business Worldwide (MBW) • Season 9 • Episode 12

On this episode of Music Business Worldwide's Talking Trends, MBW founder, Tim Ingham, is once again joined by Charlie D'Atri, to discuss two key recent headlines from the world of entertainment:

(1) A battle between Concord and financial giant Blackstone to acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund – the UK-listed bundle of music rights accumulated by Merck Mercuriadis;

(2) Spotify's decision to re-categorize its Premium subscription tiers as 'bundles' – including audiobooks – that will materially lessen the royalty rate paid to songwriters in the US.

People and companies mentioned on this Talking Trends podcast include: Spotify, Daniel Ek, Blackstone, Merck Mercuriadis, Concord, NMPA, David Israelite, EQT, Shot Tower Capital, BMG, Citrin Cooperman, and more.