Mac Miller, a young American rapper, was sued by Lord Finesse for releasing a mixtape containing several bars from Finesse’s bestseller “Hip 2 Da Game”. “Hip 2 Da Game” was released in 1995 and contains a sample from an Oscar Peterson’s “Dream of You”. More of the story here: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/legal-and-management/mac-miller-sued-by-lord-finesse-over-mixtape-1007559162.story

Miller’s remix in question, “Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza” has received significant airplay on YouTube (1/2 million plays) and therefore significant revenue.

Oscar Peterson died a few years ago, (may he rest in peace), and so, is not present to comment on the happenings of late. But it seems reasonable that he would feel he deserved some compensation for the use of his chords too.

I have a very straightforward solution to this potentially explosive situation.

Secure/Calculate the YouTube earnings and split it three ways:

•     33% Oscar Peterson’s estate
•     33% Lord Finesse
•     33% Mac Miller

Furthermore, put that no. 1 hit on itunes, spotify and more, and make more money for the 3 very deserving participants.

If Miller, has a problem with paying 66% to Finesse and Peterson, he shouldn’t have used their material. If Finesse wants to collect more than 33% of the revenue, then he’s somewhat hypocritical.

This is a blatant promotion for a real service that we have developed: MixRights Remix Distribution. We’re tired of seeing artists and remix artists squabble over money, when they could make more by co-operating.

Can’t we all just get a long?

http://mixrights.com

http://macmillerofficial.com/macadelic/index.html

TuneRights can be used by creators to raise money from their fans, by selling them shares in the future income potential. Creators may use this money to develop their career, or they can pay for everyday goods.

But, what else can TuneRights do?

Here are some ideas:

Street Team incentive program

• a band wants to promote a new album or single
• fans are given shares for becoming active promoters
• fans get a portion of the revenue that is earned

Collaboration management (think: Kutiman )

• a collaboration manager creates a tune
• shares are given to people as they join the project
• up to 100,000 people can own shares in a co-authored work
• the song is sent to digital stores and streaming services
• revenue is divided amongst co-collaborators

Remix management (think: DjShadow, Girl Talk)

• a remix artist creates a tune
• shares are given to the owners of the referenced works
• revenue is divided amongst share owners

These are a few ideas that we’ve come up with. Let us know if you want to do something new. We will help you however we can.

A short 3 years ago, a small team was formed to bring something new to the music space.  We spent days with whiteboards, we slept in music studios… dreaming of a new service that would be meaningful to real musicians and real fans. The service would enable fans to give respect to musicians after a decade of illegal downloads…  We were motivated by this thought: Musicians are real people, who deserve the simple pleasures of life-for example: taking a friend out to dinner.

How many musicians do you know who can afford to take you out to dinner?

The truth is… the people who spend all of their weekends making sound in a basement studio, so that you can spend your life in sonic bliss rarely afford a modest standard of living. Making music is hard work. Where’s the payback?

This new company that we dreamed up would change it all.

We called it a “stock market for music”. An apt title because each song is divided into 100,000 equal stocks. Owning stock entitles one to the revenue that a song earns. From day 1, the artist owns all 100,000 of the shares. This is the creator’s right: the potential future earnings of his or her creation. This is where the real value lies. These stocks are potentially worth a great deal throughout the life cycle of a song.

We dreamed that a talented, yet not internationally acclaimed artist might be able to produce a song or 3 each month, sell stock to supporters and afford to live a modest lifestyle… a respectable lifestyle.

Supporters would be friends, family, and fans. The supporters would also be industry people who are interested in new talent and a diversified music portfolio. The supporters would get the satisfaction of knowing that their money went directly to the needy artist. They would also know that if the song became a commercial success, they would get some of their money back, and maybe even more.

That was the dream, and it remained the dream throughout the entire past 3 yrs. The team has grown and shrunk, pivots have occurred, blood, sweat and tears have been shed. We’ve watched the rise of other meaningful services that help artists achieve their goals. We maintain that we have something real, unique and necessary to offer musicians and their communities. We’ve even discovered some new solutions along the way.

We’re proud to give you the TuneRights that we dreamed of 3 years ago. This service is for you. You - the musician, producer, sound engineer, industry professional, A&R person, the fan, the supporter, the friend.

We would like to thank ALMI Stockholm, Vinnova, Stockholm Business Region, The Swedish Inventor’s Association, Audi Test-Drive Idea,  Seedcamp, The Sandbox Network and all of the countless individuals and organizations that have helped to make TuneRights a reality.

Here it is!

Yes! That’s right, the first sales reports have arrived.

So, you know how it works right?

Music earns money, and TuneRights reports the earnings, and automatically distributes revenue to shareholders. The shareholders may be musicians, producers, industry people, fans or just family and friends.

The Figures for the first tracks are as follows:

Come and Get me now  12,416.61 €

Stop                                          10.59 €

Let me be your lover               1.86 €

I remember you                       1.31 €

Redshifts                                  0.01 €

I like it                                      0.03 €

Okay, okay, no big deal… we’re only talking about a few songs… and the total earnings aren’t that exciting….

But guess how many people are deeply engaged with these tracks now?

The power of the crowd has yet to be revealed…

Labros Liarapoulos is a producer and songwriter in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tune Page: I Remember You         Artist Portfolio: Labros

 Ray: Hey, how you doing?

Labros: I’m okay. I’ve been mixing all day, I’m squashed in sound. I’ve been mixing two songs today, and I’m feeling pretty happy with them.

Ray: Can I hear them?

Labros: No, not yet…I’m mixing them for a band, and they are very strict about letting people hear the new songs.

Ray: What will the band do with the tracks?

Labros: As I see it, they have three options:

1. Find a record deal, the old-school way…They’ve done that before, but they’ve run into some problems. The record label had financial problems and couldn’t afford to release the record. All of their work, emotion, creativity, went to waste…it was very sad. So they are a little scared that it could happen again.

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• find some artists and bands that you believe in 
• make an account at beta.tunerights.com
• with permission from the artists and bands, register the label’s first songs
• assign shares to artists, manager, musicians, and set the year of expiry (according to the deals you’ve made with the artists)
  
• choose a distribution method
• send the music out
  
• seek financial backing
• use the cash to market your bands with services like Jango and the like
  
• collect your sales money ( the bands will automatically receive their money in their TR account)
  
• do it all again (find a new band, release new songs… )

South by South West (SXSW) is arguably the best place for an un-signed band to make the connections that will lead to a record deal. Every year, the music industry convenes in Austin, Texas to learn about new trends, network, drink, enjoy live music and make deals.

Yes, the elusive “record deal” is a reality for some. A deal can provide the financing and promotion necessary to break a band. A record label has connections, they have marketing expertise, they know how to build your image, they have favors to collect, and they’ve (hopefully) broken bands before. Despite mixed reviews about working with record labels, bands keep coming back to SXSW in search of the contract.

If I had a million dollars… I would go to SXSW with a briefcase full of green cash and some blank record deal contracts. I would scour the showcases looking for the best bands, I would impress them my briefca$e and then I would make their dreams come true.

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