Bypass: Music Industry News for Independent Artists

Saturday edition • 3 min read

It Just Got Expensive to Own Your Own Songs

What's Up

Hey, quick, before you get back to making music. The U.S. Copyright Office wants to bump up copyright registration fees by 43%. Not 10%. Not 20%. Forty-three. And you know that A2IM and other indie advocates are pushing back hard.

So What

So you're probably thinking, "Great, so I won't register." The thing is, you can't exactly sue anyone for stealing your stuff without registering for copyright. Major labels aren't losing sleep over the 43% hike. But you will. It's almost like they're punishing artists for having their work stolen by big AI companies.

Now What

Back A2IM up on this one. Their filing's at a2im.org, so give it a read and pass it on. The comment period's still open, which means your voice counts here.

[Full story at DMN]

That Same Suno from Last Week? It Has Songkick Now.

What's Up

So Suno owns a concert-tracking app now. Yeah. Not sure what they're doing with it, but there you go. The app's called Songkick. Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't, but this week, a bunch of Songkick users got an email that their data was being handed over. Account info, concert history, location data, Spotify listening habits. Everything. Now isn't that just the definition of "royally screwed."

So What

In case you forgot, Suno is the same company UMG and Sony are suing for massive copyright infringement, and the one TuneCore just called a "pirate studio." They now have the data on millions of live music fans.

Now What

This is exactly why your email list matters more than you think. You can't control what Songkick, Suno, or even Spotify does with your fans' data, but you can. If you don't have one, start one today.

[Full story at Hypebot]

Blue Dot Fever Is Going Around

What's Up

There's a disease spreading… It's called "Blue Dot Fever." And unlike a good ol' Saturday Night Fever, this one isn't so fun (for Ticketmaster). Symptoms include empty blue dots on Ticketmaster maps showing unsold tickets or cancelled tours. There's only one way to catch it: charging too much for a ticket.

So What

Look, the economy's wrecked right now. A $150 ticket is out of the question for most people. Fans aren't giving up on live music; they're just prioritizing gas money and Netflix.

Now What

Good news for indies. Fans are punishing overconfidence right now so start small and keep your fans' wallets in mind. Make your shows affordable, and you probably won't end up adding to the blue dot pile.

[Full story at DMN]

While You Were Making Music…

🤷 Hybe just launched a new label called ABD, focused entirely on girl groups [you know what they say: you can never have too many girl groups]

😑 Instagram Edits added AI video generation [can't wait to post even more AI slop]

🤕 Google partnered with Believe to offer their AI tool Flow Music to TuneCore artists [it's a big club, Suno. And you ain't in it.]

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Today's edition by Jordan F.

For indies who ship music, not excuses.