21khz: The Art of Money In Music Jeff Price & Ted Gerstein

Right before Thanksgiving, 2021 Spotify took down a large number of comedy albums.  The question is why.
The answer has to do with the fact that just because a comedian like Robin Williams says the words "Reality, what a concept" as opposed to sings them doesn't mean he does not have a copyright that needs to be licensed and a royalty paid when it streams.
What happens if a streaming service like Spotify streams comedy albums without the needed licenses.  The answer is not funny at all.

Comedians' works are streamed and broadcast across Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, SiriusXM, and more. However, unlike music where royalties are paid for two copyrights (composition and master recording), Comedians have only ever been paid royalties on the recording of their performance, not on the underlying literary work (equivalent of a composition). Jeff Price, founder of Word Collections and previous founder of Tunecore, Audiam, and more is setting out to fix that by helping comedians license and collect royalties owed to them for their unlicensed literary works.

Season 2/ Episode 7
Rachel Francine/ Co-Founder and CEO, SingFit
Andy Tubman/ Co-Founder and Chief of Therapeutics and Music, SingFit
If there is one that I have learned doing this podcast for the past two years, it’s that music contains value beyond the cost of a CD, an iTunes download or a Pandora stream.
This show proves that music has a value beyond money.
Rachel Francine and Andy Tubman are a brother and sister pair of entrepreneurs who have taken the best from each of their careers and combined them into a new company with a mission.
Andy Spent years working as a music therapist, working with patients with brain trauma or dementia utilizing difference musical processes to help retrain the brain and to attain clinical goals.
Rachel spent years working in the worlds of technology, media, and entertainment.  This particular set of skilled gave her the perfect background to deal with the ins and outs of music publishing and copyright.
A few years back the two realized that both of those parts make the perfect whole. Andy, with a background in music therapy, and Rachel with a background in music publishing. They formed, SingFit, a company with the goal of bringing music therapy to the largest audience possible.
From the Singfit.com…
SingFit™ PRIME is a turnkey solution that allows even those with no musical experience to facilitate group activities, tailored specifically for their participants’ age and musical tastes as well as cognitive and physical health. An award-winning therapeutic music solution, SingFit™ PRIME is created specifically for older adults in senior living communities, adult day programs, and skilled-nursing facilities. The unique Lyric Coach means even those with dementia can joyfully take part in the turnkey SingFit PRIME sessions.
It’s an interview that meanders from music cues for forgetful opera divas, Gabby Giffords love of Tom Petty, and finally ends up on BlueBerry Hill.

Gregory Roach
Season 2/ Episode 8
Sometimes, you just want to sit back, have a cup of coffee and listen to war stories from a bygone era.
This is that kind of Podcast..
Gregory Roach has had an eclectic career.
He worked at "Grendel's Lair", the storied nightclub in Philadelphia, worked as the lighting guy for a comedy club in New York City, went on the road with Billy Joel and Pat Benatar, he even designed a "Rubber Juice Bar" for Studio 54.
It's a conversation that proves that sometimes it's the guys behind the scenes that have all the fun.

Judith Finell - Judith Finell, Music Service
Season 2/ Episode 8
You probably didn't watch, but on a Saturday night in April of 1983, "The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair," aired on NBC. Trust me on this; it was a classic of 1980s television - paunchy middle-aged heroes, central casting villains, backlot sets, stock footage explosions - The 12-year-old me could not get enough.
Our intrepid heroes even cross paths with a fellow spy - a suave Brit, wearing a dashing tux, driving an Aston Martin (complete with the license plate, "JB"). His car featured cool gadgets, he had a starlet on his arm, and there was that memorable James Bond theme.
"James Bond!!! They got James Bond - Cool" The 12 year old me was - again - thrilled out of his mind.
The thing is, "they" didn't, "get" James Bond. They got an actor (admittedly, the actor happened to be George Lazenby, reprising his role as James Bond, so there wasn't much question), they got an Aston Martin, they even got the James Bond theme (sort of). All the clues were there, I was supposed to think it was James Bond, but they never once uttered the words, "James" or "Bond."
The music was the giveaway, it sounded "Bondian," it was almost the famous Monty Norman theme from the 1960s, but it just wasn't. The ersatz, "NBC Saturday Night Movie" music came right up to the edge of being James Bond but was afraid to jump.
That's the subject of this podcast. A few weeks back we pushed our podcast with Judith Finell, Judith was the lead musicologist in the "Blurred Lines" case involving Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and the Marvin Gaye State Estate. This episode is part of 2 of that interview.
When we finished discussing the subtler points of copyright and plagiarism we ended delving into another area of Judith's expertise. "Sound-Alikes." Frankly, since that Saturday Night in 1983, I've always been fascinated by these, "almost" songs. TV throughout the 1980s and 1990s were full of them. Songs where it was clear the producers wanted a top 10 hit but also apparently didn't want to pay top ten prices.
So what does it take to come right up to the edge in music? How can you evoke the James Bond theme, without paying James Bond Prices?
We also discuss Stairway to Heaven, the sound the Transporter makes in Star Trek, the Mission Impossible theme, and a little 45 record McDonald's gave away in the 1990s.

Judith Finell, Musicologist, president of Judith Finell Music Services
Season 2, Episode 6
Ever started explaining something to a friend, and you can tell, usually, immediately, this person has no idea what you're talking about (you can see it in the eyes).
When that happens, I always make up a little story...
“It’s like trying to describe the idea of fusion to a clueless platypus.” Or...
“It’s like explaining the theory of general relativity to a stupid rabbit.” Or...
“It’s like discussing the concepts of thermodynamics with a slow turtle. ”
With that in mind, the best way to describe this podcast would be,  "Trying to describe Music Theory to a Dimwitted Penguin." And, in this case, the "Dimwitted Penguin" happens to be me.
That's mainly because this episode covers the ideas of plagiarism, music, copyright, and the law. Three things I can't always wrap my brain around.
The background for this episode revolves around the "Blurred Lines" court case from a few years back. It started back in 2013 when the Marvin Gaye Estate sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over their single, "Blurred Lines".  The Gaye Family claimed that Thick and Williams didn't so much write a song as they just stole the music from Marvin Gay's 1977 song, "Give it up."
To me, it seemed like a pretty straightforward case - they did steal it, or they didn't?  But nothing is ever easy. How do you prove, prove to a jury that something is a copy? Two songs may sound the same - but are they the same? How can you prove plagiarism and how can you prove it in a court of law. Can you even copyright a sound?
So, in the case of, "Blurred Lines," the Marvin Gaye Estate turned to Judith Finell.
Judith is a musicologist, and she happens to understand music, the law, plagiarism and copyright better than anyone...
From her website...
She has testified in disputes for Michael Jackson, Sony/CBS, Warner-Chappell, the estates of Igor Stravinsky and Bob Marley and before the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington on behalf of the National Music Publishers Assn. in a dispute with the RIAA.
Ms. Finell’s firm regularly advises entertainment company clients on licensing and risk avoidance in copyright matters, including HBO, Sony Pictures, Disney, Grey Advertising, Lionsgate, LucasFilms, CBS, and others.
It's an insightful conversation.
We discuss the definition of, "musicologist," how Judith, "sees" music in her head, How copyright law forced her to play the piano in court, and how she was able to convince a jury that two songs are indeed the same.
Plus, Judith tells us what exactly is, "Perfect Pitch."