October 11, 2022 In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday, some trivia. What did President Calvin Coolidge famously receive as a Thanksgiving gift? A live raccoon In today’s email:
CLASSICAL CHARTS THE BIG IDEA How Glenn Gould Turned Up The Volume On Music RightsIn 2017, Primary Wave Music Publishing acquired the rights to Canadian pianist Glenn Gould. “His innovative approach to music interpretation and his use of technology made acquiring his catalogue an easy choice for us and we look forward to furthering the legacy of this legendary artist," said Primary Wave Founder & CEO Larry Mestel. At the time, few outside of the financial world had even heard of Primary Wave. No terms of the deal were disclosed, but the sale went well beyond publishing and master royalties and included full control of Glenn Gould’s name and likeness rights. “In addition, their focus on all musical genres across all media platforms is a perfect fit for Glenn Gould and we are already excited about the many new perspectives and projects that they are bringing to the table,” said Stephen Posen, Sole Executor of the Glenn Gould Estate. Posen went on to suggest that Gould’s love of technology would have meant he would have embraced the sale, as a “direct-to-listener experience.” While it’s hard to argue if Gould would have supported the deal, no one would dispute that Primary Wave seems to understand more than anyone how valuable music rights are. How the money flowsA royalty is a sum of money given to the owner of an asset in exchange for the right to use it. These are derived from copyrights, which are a type of intellectual property. This property dictates how money flows through the various stakeholders associated with an artist’s catalogue. At the top of this ownership structure is the royalty owner(s). This can be the artist, the record company, a combination of the two, or even a holdings company that acquires copyrights after the fact. The majority of revenue from music is consolidated with the royalty owner, as they get paid first. Any remaining money trickles down to other stakeholders such as stockholders, record company executives, and so on. According to Rolling Stone, 2 copyrights are created when a song is recorded:
Each of those rights is then split into 4 buckets:
Music catalogues = big bucksThe rise of streaming services has resulted in artist catalogues skyrocketing in value. According to Primary Wave, older artists are commanding higher prices because they are seen as safe bets. The artists are proven, and in the case of artists like Glenn Gould, have become the standard from which to measure artistic merit.
The pandemic amplified the situation with an even bigger surge in streaming during the lockdowns as fans leaned into comfort listening from familiar artists. According to MRC Data, formerly Nielsen Music, online streaming now makes up some 70% of listeners’ consumption. The result? Multiples for artists catalogues have gone from from 8-13x annual royalties to 10-20x annual royalties. Looking aheadMusic Ally has reported this week that Primary Wave secured a $2B partnership with investment firm Brookfield. Brookfield will buy a minority stake in Primary Wave and commit $1.7B to bolster its acquisition efforts. Primary Wave has already completed more than $300M of acquisitions this year, and has another $600M of "pending transactions expected to be completed by year-end". THE LATEST Milestones: TwoSet Violin mark 4M subscribers with free online concert Awards: Gramophone Classical Music Awards 2022 winners announced Opera: A Kurt Cobain opera examines the myth, not the man. They also team up with Balenciaga. Early Exit: Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini abruptly quits Orchestra Moves: Why does the Midwest love orchestras so much? Politics: Orchestra that refused to play national anthem accused of ‘woke nonsense’ TECH Swedish Composer Fredrik Gran Writes Cello Music For Sad RobotsSwedish composer Fredrik Gran has been writing music for robots for a few years now. His Cello Concerto No. 1 (2019) was commissioned by noted Swedish contemporary music ensemble KammarensembleN (SE), and sponsored by the Swedish Arts Council and KUKA Robotics. “The ‘robot cellist’, a non-human entity at the intersection of performer and instrument, consists of two industrial robotic arms playing a cello. The composition explores the specific and unique playing techniques afforded by this system, underlines the idiomatic potential of the robot cellist and investigates its anthropomorphic characteristics and their scenographic implications. The robot cellist has developed individual playing style and techniques along with a reflexive compositional perspective.” The project is ongoing, and Gran recently posted a video demonstrating the robot cellist's capabilities. You can judge its talents for yourself. Gran uses the same type of robot that can be seen in automotive assembly lines, which already require a certain level of dexterity. The robot arms can rosin their bows and tune the instrument as well. He’s programmed them to be sensitive enough to play with subtlety and dynamic range, and sometimes plays duets with them. He’s also written for robot double bass. His robot cellists maintain an enviable concert schedule in his native Sweden, sometimes playing with other instrumentalists. Who is Fredrik Gran?After initial studies at the Music Academy in Stockholm, Gran completed his doctoral research at McGill University in Montreal, in connection with the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology. Gran's works have been performed widely at festivals and concerts throughout Scandinavia and Europe, along with Tokyo. He's worked with ballet and opera companies, as well as orchestras and chamber ensembles. And robots. CLASSICAL WAVES Daniel Barenboim, Conductor, in repetition before the concert for Human Rights. 10 December 2016. UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferré Daniel Barenboim stepping down due to health reasonsFollowing a diagnosis of a "serious neurological condition," renowned conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim stated he will be taking a break from "some performing activities, especially conducting engagements for the coming months" in order to focus on his health. The 79-year-old issued the following announcement on his social media accounts: “It is with a combination of pride and sadness that I announce today that I am taking a step back from some of my performing activities, especially conducting engagements, for the coming months. “My health has deteriorated over the last months, and I have been diagnosed with a serious neurological condition. I must now focus on my physical well-being as much as possible. “Music has always been and continues to be an essential and lasting part of my life. I have lived all my life in and through music, and I will continue to do so as long as my health allows me to. Looking back and ahead, I am not only content but deeply fulfilled.” His announcement came just after he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2022 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. One of the great onesAs mentioned in the Guardian, Barenboim follows in the footsteps of classical music titans Yehudi Menuhin, Pablo Casals, and Arturo Toscanini. His absence leaves a gap in classical music that will be hard to fill. We wish him well. AROUND THE WEB 🕊️ On this day: October 11, 1971, John Lennon’s "Imagine" is released. 🪴 Neat: Time-lapse video shows how much plants move in 24 hours. 🦦 Tribute: We can all agree Otters are amazing. 💥 Sparks fly as an inventor creates a very different kind of ‘electric’ piano. 🇮🇷 Long Read: The story behind the protest anthem soundtracking the Iranian teenagers’ revolution. 🐄 Aww: And now, just one of the cows. CARTOON OF THE WEEK How did you like today's email? |