Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill get hit with a lawsuit
This isn’t the first time the British singer-songwriter is facing yet another lawsuit. Now, Australian musicians Sean Carey and Beau Golden have filed a complaint on in the US District Court in New York stating that Ed Sheeran, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and handful other songwriters “blatantly copied” their track “When I Found You” from 2014. The song in question, “The Rest Our Life,” credits Ed Sheeran as a co-writer the country tune. The original, “When I Found You,” was sung by Australian singer Jasmine Rae, who is not listed as a plaintiff in the complaint. Richard Busch, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, states, “The copying is, in many instances, verbatim, note-for-note copying important and original elements the song, and is obvious to the ordinary observer.” The introductions to both songs are the same. They’re even in the same key and time signature. Take a listen for yourself below.
Sign a direct deal with Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus to get paid for your music being used in creators’ content
In recent news, Facebook has been signing deals with major labels left and right. With a monthly user base around 2 billion, Facebook has an incredible opportunity for musicians around the world to earn revenue on their music. Content creators on all three platforms–Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus–use artists’ copyrighted material all the time without any repercussions. Consequently, these artists are not earning a single dime on the content containing their music. Facebook is changing this flaw.
The hugely successful social media platform is utilizing the Harry Fox Agency‘s Rumblefish services to provide “publishers the opportunity to enter into a direct license agreement with Facebook for Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus,” states Dae Bogan, CEO and founder TuneRegistry. “This opportunity is available to all publishers (including self-published DIY musicians who deliver title registrations to HFA their TuneRegistry account).
With this landmark deal, the reproduction compositions in uploaded videos, stories, and live videos on all three the aforementioned platforms will be covered.
Check out this article on TuneRegistry to get you started.
“The Grammy Awards are rigged,” state independent artists
The 60th annual Grammy Awards celebration is just around the corner, and many independent musicians are raising their eyebrows with concern and claiming its rigged and unfair to them. Those independent artists, alongside a few other industry pressionals, have created a petition on Change.org to urge the award ceremony to have more transparency and make the Grammy Awards’ process better.
Independent artists and labels are quickly becoming the future the music industry. These artists are feeling excluded because a few specific rules that prevent “accidents” during the voting process.
Back in 2012, Linda Chorney was nominated for Best Americana Album. She was scrutinized and accused “gaming the system” with self-promotion by utilizing the Grammy365 platform.
With independent artists growing exponentially, the Grammy Awards will hopefully become more inclusive and inviting to independent artists to the stage to showcase their talents. Through remaining optimistic and taking action now, these artists will be able to share the stage with stars like Adele, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Chance The Rapper, Bruno Mars and many other multi-award winning recipients.
