The Court Decision That Could Alter Royalty Payments

Flo & Eddie/The Turtles

A US Federal Court has ruled that SiriusXM violated The Turtles pre-1972 copyright by playing their music without either licensing it or paying performance royalties. The is a big decision that may have far reaching consequences for both classic artists, record labels and digital music services.

Right now digital music services like Pandora and SiriusXM don't pay royalties on any song that existed before 1972 because they argue that the master copyright law didn't exist before then. Broadcasters now only pay royalties to publishers but digital services must also pay the copyright holder when a post-1972 song is played.

The payment to artists and labels is estimated to be at least $60 million before punitive damages. That said, the ruling was made in California and therefore only effects California, so this may prove to be only the first battle in a long war. Several other lawsuits by the major labels and Soundexchange against digital broadcasters are also pending.

While the result may be ominous for the affected digital services, it will have little direct effect on consumers. This may have an eventual effect on broadcast radio though, which has managed to skirt the issue of paying anyone but publishers thanks to strong lobbying on the part of the NAB. With the precedent now set, a new attempt to have radio pay artists when their songs are played might gain some traction in Congress.

The suit was brought by Flo & Eddie (Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman), the two main players of the 60s hit makers The Turtles.

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Artist Management According to Flo & Eddie

If you ever wondered how ruthless the music business can be, just listen to this story about the business dealings of The Turtles ("Happy Together" among other 60s hits) told by frontmen professor Mark Volman (now teaching at Belmont College) and Howard Kaylan. The two then went on to a successful solo career as Flo & Eddie, and even sang background vocals for Frank Zappa for a time.

The video is humorous because they can laugh about it now, but you can see how this could cause many sleepless nights. To say the least, kids, don't try this at home.

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The Turtles Sue SiriusXM For $100 Mil

If you're like me and like to occasionally sample some of the songs of the 50s, 60s, and 70s on SiriusXM, you may soon find that option no longer available thanks to a $100 million class-action lawsuit brought about by the 60s band The Turtles.

The Turtles had a number of big hits back then that get regular airplay on the Sirius 60s On 6 channel like "Happy Together," "It Ain't Me Babe," and "She'd Rather Be With Me," but the band feels that SiriusXM has not paid adequate royalties on these and thousands of other songs that date before 1972.

On February 15, 1972 all recordings began being protected by paragraph 114 of the Copyright Act, which provides limitations on exclusive rights and spells out the way that artist's are compensated. Unfortunately the law is somewhat murky on what happens with songs before that point, and The Turtles (Flo & Eddie - Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan) feel that Sirius has overstepped their bounds in that regard.

While millions of dollars are a big part of the picture, what might be even bigger is that the suit also seeks an injunction to prohibit any pre-1972 songs to be played on SiriusXM until the suit is settled. That would be a shame, since it sure is fun to hear some of the old songs.

Just for the record, Mark Volman is now an associate professor and director of the entertainment industry studies program at Belmont University, where I have spoken at in the past.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Artist Management According To Flo & Eddie

In January the legendary producer and engineer Ken Scott and I gave a guest lecture at Belmont College in Nashville at the behest of professor Mark Volman, who many of you know as one of the main men of the 60's group The Turtles, and latter of their own group Flo & Eddie. Mark and his partner Howard Kaylan had numerous misadventures in the business side of music, some of which are illustrated in the humorous video regarding their many managers. To say the least, kids, don't try this at home.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.