David Israelite: Last News

David Israelite Guest Columnist David Israelite is the president & CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, the trade association representing American music publishers and their songwriting partners. Variety welcomes responsible commentary, please send ideas to music@variety.com. Songwriters have always struggled to be treated fairly.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Just hours after Spotify announced its first-ever annual net profit, the National Music Publishers’ Association has launched an ongoing takedown initiative against the streaming giant for the unlicensed use of music in podcasts on its platform. Beginning today (Feb.

Twitter following alleged copyright infringement.The suit was filed in Nashville’s Federal Court yesterday (June 14) and claims that the social media platform has infringed on over 1,700 different songs.It also seeks up to $150,000 (£118,630) per infringement — which totals up to $255million (£180million) to be paid if Twitter is found liable.Some of the biggest music publishing companies are included among the plaintiffs listed including Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Publishing, BMG and Kobalt.The publishers listed direct copyright infringement, contributory infringement and vicarious infringement as their counts.David Israelite, the president of NMPA issued a statement regarding the suit, stating: “Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service.”He continued: “Twitter knows full well that music is leaked, launched, and streamed by billions of people every day on its platform. No longer can it hide behind the DMCA and refuse to pay songwriters and music publishers.”Twitter has not yet issued a response regarding the allegations.The inability of the social media giant and music publishers to reach a licensing agreement stems back numerous years and, at time of writing, Twitter is the only major social media company to be working without one.As per the suit, the plaintiffs stated that they hoped new ownership of the company would help them resolve the ongoing issue.

lawsuit said.Members of the National Music Publishers’ Association, including Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group, are seeking more than $250 million in damages for alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights.The lawsuit said the longstanding infringement has gotten worse since Elon Musk bought Twitter in October, and that other major platforms like TikTok, Facebook and YouTube properly license music from the publishers.Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The artists represented by the suit include Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran, the Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert and Rihanna.NMPA President David Israelite said in a statement that Twitter “stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service.”Twitter “routinely ignores” repeat infringement by users who post tweets that contain unlicensed music, the lawsuit said.

Thania Garcia Brandi Carlile will be honored with the Songwriter Icon award by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) as part of the organization’s annual meeting at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on June 14. “Brandi Carlile is in a class of her own,” said NMPA President and CEO David Israelite in a statement. “A critical success who has become a cultural and commercial force, she consistently has delivered stunning lyrics and vocals that cut to the heart of the human experience. We are thrilled to celebrate what she has given and continues to give to the craft of songwriting.” The first-ever NMPA Non-Performing Songwriter Icon award will be presented to country hitmaker Ashley Gorley and RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier will be presented with the NMPA Industry Legacy award. Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl will deliver a keynote conversation on the “value of music and the ever-evolving opportunities for songwriters, artists, and creators” in the context of streaming and artificial intelligence.

MixMag).The increase in rates, which amounts to 44 percent, follows a long battle with streaming platforms like Amazon Music, Spotify and YouTube.The percentage of label revenue (the TCC rate) has also been capped, meaning  publishers will only be able to receive a limited royalty rate.The president of The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), David Israelite said in a statement: “Today the court reaffirmed the headline rate increase we earned four long years ago, confirming that songwriters need and deserve a significant raise from the digital streaming services who profit from their work.“We will fight to increase the TCC, or percentage of label revenue, which amounts to an insurance policy for songwriters, in the next CRB and will also fight for stronger terms regarding bundles.”Artists will receive the backdated rates, although this could be months away according to Bart Herbison of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). He said it is “still unknown when songwriters will receive their payments”.He added: “The bad news is that the definition of “bundled services” and of total content costs, one of the streaming rate tiers, were not what we wished.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn a big win for the publishing and songwriting community, the Copyright Royalty Board reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase in royalties paid by streaming services to publishers for the 2018-22 period.The rate was decided in 2018, but streaming services Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube/Google and Pandora appealed the following year, arguing that the increase will make their business models untenable in light of the billions of dollars that they already pay in royalties.While the decision was not immediately released publicly, sources and National Music Publishers Assn. president/CEO David Israelite shared that the headline rate will increase to 15.1% from 11.4%, as decided.However, in a minor win for the streaming services, the TCC rate, or percentage of label revenue, has been capped, and the definition of bundling — the “family plans” and other discount packages — has reverted to an earlier definition more favorable to the services.