 RAIN 12/22: SoundExchange publishes 2009 financials ·Dec 22, 10:33 AM SX: INCOMING ROYALTIES UP 20%, OUTGOING PAYMENTS UP 55% FROM ’08Royalty collection agency SoundExchange has released its financial figures for 2009, which show an increasing amount of incoming and outgoing royalty payments.
SoundExchange collected $204.2 million in royalties in 2009, up 20% from 2008. Outgoing payments to artists and copyright holders totaled $155.5 million — up 55% from 2008. Operating costs accounted for $16.7 million. The financial report also includes $111 million in “unpayable funds.” Of that, SoundExchange says $43 million is unclaimed by artists or copyright holders who have not registered with the service. $23 million is associated with bad metadata and another $23 million is unclaimed by foreign collecting societies. Finally, $22 million is “in limbo due to account issues and paperwork,” according to Music Ally (here). SoundExchange says it has paid out $38.3 million of that $111 million figure in the first three quarters of 2010. Digital Music News reported in May 2010 that SoundExchange had $200 million in unpaid royalties, up from $96.7 million in 2006. SoundExchange said then that part of the problem was the booming popularity of online radio. “The whole industry is increasing year-over-year,” said SoundExchange executive Laura Williams. “We’re just a part of, or more accurately a reflection of, that explosion” (RAIN coverage here). FORD UPDATES SYNC WITH HANDS-FREE PANDORA COMPATIBILITYFord has released an update of their in-dash Sync AppLink system for Fiesta 2011 models that will allow hands-free control of Pandora streams. The AppLink system pairs with Pandora apps on Android and Blackberry devices (support for iPhone coming in early 2011, says Ford) to play and control streams through the car’s dashboard.
Drivers can even control playback through voice commands. Engadget has more coverage, and Ford’s press release, here.
POLL: SOME ONLINE USERS DISLIKE AD TRACKINGA new poll from USA Today and Gallup found that online users may be troubled by online ad networks tracking them to deliver personalized advertisements. Two-thirds of those polled said such tracking should not be allowed. 61% said they have noticed online ads that appear to be personalized to their browsing history. The Wall Street Journal has more coverage here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
