The Songwriter Curse (Avoid the NOI(d))

It seems to be a constant battle for songwriters to economically receive what is rightfully theirs. First, fighting with labels over rights and royalties, then finding a publisher (big enough) to collect those royalties, now going after digital service providers to payout those royalties, and the government for providing an obnoxiously low rate for reproductions rights and an outdated statute that can’t seem to keep up with the technological age. Yes, it has been a rough one as these factors are often working together in perpetuating this curse more commonly known as the compulsory license.

A compulsory license for sound recordings was created by Section 115 of the Copyright Act and allows anyone to reproduce and distribute a composition that has been released to the public either by digital or physical means with the copyright owners permission. (sounds good). Most of the time an artist records the composition, the label sends the created recording to its distributor and the distributor sends it to the digital service providers or DSPs (Spotify, Amazon, Google, iHeart, you name it) who in exchange receive dollars through subscriptions, ads and downloads. It seems like DSPs should be giving songwriters a call right? (Because they are reproducing the composition and saving it to their platforms to be streamed or downloaded.) Shockingly, they don’t call.  In fact, if you are an independent songwriter (not represented by a major publisher), it is unlikely that you are paid mechanical royalties from any of the DSPs. Why? Because of the compulsory license and these evil excel spreadsheets called “author unknown” NOIs.

If you want a compulsory license, Section 115(a)(2)(b) of the Copyright Act requires you to serve the copyright owner of the composition with a notice of intention (or an NOI). However, IF there is no registration or public record filed with the Copyright Office of your ownership of that composition with an address where the licensee can serve you the NOI then you are considered an “author unknown”! (insert evil laugh). Basically, did you file and pay the Copyright Office to register your copyright that you already own (even though under no law are you required to register your copyright to validate your ownership) for the purpose of getting paid a royalty that, by statute, you are rightfully entitled to? That’s some hardcore bs, right? In fact, instead we are going to give DSPs and whoever else, an out to not pay you. Just submit an “unknown author” NOI to the Copyright Office, which is basically an excel spreadsheet with the title of the song, the DSP info, and unavailable written across the columns for any type of songwriter info. It doesn’t matter if the song is registered with a PRO, if you submitted the metadata to the label to give to the DSP, it probably doesn’t even matter if you call Spotify up and say “hey I’m your missing songwriter!” Nope, after a copyright search you are done. Also to add more bad news, if you file for your copyright tomorrow Spotify, Google and Amazon are not required to back pay on any of those royalties as long as they submitted an NOI to the Copyright Office.

Although a bummer, we will end on a positive note that this curse has not gone unnoticed and some are choosing to do their part to help. Insert Sound Exchange NOI database! (Superhero sound!) A simple system that organized the unknown author NOIs submitted to the Copyright Office so that you can easily discover who is not paying you and for which song. Although its not exactly putting the money you are owed into your pocket, it is getting us a step closer considering the Copyright Office database for NOIs is next to impossible to navigate. It consists of huge excel spreadsheets submitted by DSPs that often are not even downloadable without a zip compressor. If you are able to download the excel sheets, you will see DSPs list hundreds sometimes thousands of songs in no particular order that are submitted daily! It is an absurd waste of time. So thank you Sound Exchange for making it easier for the songwriters out there. I encourage all songwriters to sign up (its free) and search for any NOIs here. We at L4M are going to do our best to keep on this fight and find best practices to get these royalties paid out for our clients. We will keep you posted, but feel free to comment with suggestions and success stories as we want to keep songwriters informed on how to avoid those unknown author NOIs!

The Music Modernization Act of 2017

Wait a second…What just happened?  Did the United States government actually try to address a problem that has effected millions of Americans for years by introducing a Bill before Congress?  Did those blowhards in Washington D.C. stop fighting and tweeting and actually do the job that they were sent there to do?

Sort of.

Here is a draft of H.R. 4706, The Music Modernization Act of 2017.

For years now the streaming revolution has completely disrupted the way consumers listen to music, the way musicians release music and the way rights holders (musicians, publishers, labels etc.) get paid.  With the recent onslaught of litigation against giants like Spotify and Apple Music, lobbyists in D.C. seem to have been effective in getting our legislative branch to try to address an over decade old issue.

With the goal of ensuring that streaming platforms (a) don’t get sued, (b) mechanical royalty rates are set as independently as possible and (c) theoretically, getting money to the right people in a faster way, the MMA sets up several new processes for the music industry.

In typical Washingtonian fashion, the Bill introduces yet another bureaucratic body to oversee and administer digital licenses and pay all copyright owners (so long as your works are registered correctly).  While, in theory, this sounds like an intelligent move, there are numerous questions about the efficiency of yet another “agency” involved in paying monies to the correct rights holders.  We think it is definitely a move in the right direction by centralizing all digital blanket licenses and the decision makers for mechanical royalty rates (without a commission or overhead cost put on the backs of rights holders), but the move begs the question of how effective other government led regulatory bodies have been in the past (Government Shutdown ring a bell?).  Lobbyists have touted this move as a departure from the tenured “judges” that rule over the PRO’s (ASCAP and BMI) and allows for a more impartial method in determining amounts paid for performance royalties to songwriters.

Since the inception of streaming services, platforms have avoided paying mechanicals because after filing the required Notice of Intent (or NOI) there is no further requirement to determine the actual right holder of a particular song.  So if your information isn’t found or hasn’t been registered, Spotify, Apple, Amazon etc. haven’t had to pay you for streaming your license.  The MMA attempts to do away with this giant loop hole.  The new oversight/governing body will attempt to collect all data (by working with Content ID/Google and other data aggregators) and theoretically make sure that every song is registered so that every right holder is paid (some minuscule amount) for every stream.

The Bill then sets up a more “free-market” system for determining what mechanical royalty is actually paid to the rights holders (now that they will all be contained within this database).  The rights holders and the platforms will have the ability to negotiate and set rates rather than relying strictly on government set rates.

The Bill was introduced to the House Judiciary Committee before the end of 2017 and there it sits.  We will be watching carefully, along with millions of musicians and industry folks, to see how it progresses, what changes are made and how much pork is added to it.

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

Need a Publisher? Are you Sure?

Maybe it is a millennial thing or maybe it is just a product of the industry but we consistently hear several things from new artists that are trying to make it to the next level:

“I need a manager”

“I need a label”

“I need a publisher”

Sometimes there is a need for one of these.  Sometimes there is a need for all of them.  But when does an artist really need a publisher?

We think there are only a couple of situations where a musician who writes music truly needs a publisher rather than self-publishing:

1.  You are a top-line (lyrics) writer or producer that needs a publisher to set up writing/recording sessions with other similar or more established writers or producers.

Or

2. You are in need of a substantial check as a loan/advance.

Going in reverse, the only way you are going to get to #2 is if you have a previously released catalog of music that is making substantial revenue on the publishing side of things (actual record sales, licenses, performance royalties etc.).  Obviously, easier said than done.

So in our opinion #1 is probably the best and primary reason that an artist should consider or seek out a publishing situation.  If you are a writer/producer that either writes for him/herself or has written for another artist and your goal is to try to continue to do so or write with writers who have credits on gold/platinum albums, a good publisher should be able to facilitate this.  They should be able to pair you with established and up-and-coming artists that have budgets behind them.  Getting in with those artists and getting music actually released with a budget for radio/pr etc. obviously builds your own value and the value in your publishing.

As many of you know, getting tracks to the top artists is incredibly difficult.  Even if you have a direct line to the artist you still have to get through the artists, management, publisher and label to even have a shot of getting a placement on that artist’s album.  Getting a writing session with the artist is even more of a challenge.

If you are at the point where you have the chops, you have a history of writing really solid music, your previous writing is actually earning you some money and you can write for other people, you want to make sure that you are doing everything you can to maximize your value and that of your publishing.  We have so many stories of writers/producers that were involved in big songs that weren’t credited the right way or were left off registrations for some reason or the other.  So making sure you are handling your publishing yourself is the first step in preparing yourself to even be considered by a major publisher.

Please don’t get it twisted (as the young folks say), if you self-publish you better be able to administer your works or have a lawyer/manager who knows how.  Without registering your music with the PROs or securing correct split sheets or hounding labels for statements or hitting up independent artists who have used your music, you are essentially lighting money on fire.  You have to know what rights you have in and to your publishing and how to go about collecting it.  Registering works is not complicated.  Understanding how and when you get paid from those works is.

There are several companies popping up that are offering admin services.  Some are directly tied to the big publishers but then you have companies like CD Baby and Tunecore rolled out an admin service and functions a couple of years back.  Songtrust is another one that offers a ton of services including administration of publishing.  We have clients that have positive things to say about each one and those that have negative things to say about each one.  So we will leave it up to you to decide if one of these outlets is right for you.

Remember, if you write a song and do nothing to register it or attempt to collect on it, it’s not really “published”.

Just like everything else in music (or most industries for that matter) you have to work your way up.  You won’t get a publishing deal that makes sense unless you have already proven yourself as a writer.  It is tough to prove yourself as a writer without getting a break in a very competitive industry.  But you won’t get a break at all if you don’t treat your writing like an actual business and get the people you need to be in your corner to help you do so.

What’$ in a Stream?

There have been a ton of articles written about how the current revenue models created by streaming platforms are grossly unjust and woefully inadequate as far as compensating artists.   Great sources like Digital Music News have compiled hundreds of pages of Spotify reports in an effort to truly understand how much money an artist can make per stream.  Forbes via Quora has probably the best breakdown of how Spotify, Apple, et. al. work with musicians, labels, publishers and “back office services” when calculating the true revenue per stream.

Unfortunately for artists, the result of all of the calculations results in the following analysis:  The revenue per stream is really really really low.  Like $0.004891 per stream low.  Easier math to contemplate is to figure that for every 1,000,000 streams on Spotify, your band will make $5,000.

More crappy financial news for musicians.  The fact that music industry is on a never-ending downward spiral is as newsworthy as another allegation that Trump has ties with the Russians.  Everyone knows.  Yet, a funny thing keeps happening with all of the artists that we work with here at L4M and The Propelr.  They all turn to their numbers on Spotify before literally everything else.  The success of a project, in their minds, is almost exclusively dependent on the number of streams on Spotify.

So if your music isn’t on New Releases Friday or doesn’t make it onto Rap Caviar, how does an independent artist get significant spins on Spotify?

Not surprisingly “streaming promotion” companies are popping up.  Promises are being made that for approximately $5,000 you can be assured of, wait for it…1,000,000 streams on Spotify (no risk offer!).  I’m not saying that these companies cannot achieve this benchmark but it leads to a greater question of what is the value in having millions of streams, especially if you have to pay for them.

Paying for spins is not a new idea.  Payola ruled the industry for decades.  Payments to program managers and dj’s of radio stations were as common as paying for studio time. While Payola was officially made illegal by Congress in 1960 some form of pay for play remained commonplace in the industry for the next fifty years.  Rather than straight up paying for radio rotation, promotional payments were made as marketing expenditures and not-so-cleverly identified as artist or record promotion.  In 2005 the State of New York settled with the majors to try to put a stop to this practice and loop hole in the law. There was a chilling effect after that out-of-court settlement but those who have tried to get their music on the radio still know you have to pay someone to get there.  It’s just the way it is.  Want a number one album, plan on spending $200,000 (according to an anonymous label source).

With the advent of streaming officially taking over the value of physical sales for the major labels, the labels are forced to (finally) face the fact that they are in the streaming business rather than the download or sale of music business.  (Click Here for a great article about it from Music Industry Blog)   That means that there will be far more attention, effort and dollars going into boosting the numbers of spins that a song receives.  Labels will most likely swallow up some of these independent spin maximization services and look to infiltrate the algorithm and fan behavior platforms like Pandora and Spotify.

With the labels spending more time, money and attention on the importance of streams is that 1,000,000 spin number even worth it?  In short, yes but don’t pay someone to get them for you.

First off, there is no guarantee that these promotional streaming companies can achieve authentic spins.  Think of boiler room scenario where computers are set to repeat on your song.  Is that worth it to get to 1,000,000 streams?  Sure it is worth about $5,000, but that is what it cost you.  So did you gain any fans?  Will you be able to point to the analytics that Spotify provides and show promoters that your fanbase is active in a certain city?  Can you spend money on Facebook advertising your merchandise in a specific market based on the analytics you get from those spins?  No to all of the above.

There are ways to get authentic fans and via those fans, authentic spins.  One way is to reach out directly to folks at a platform.  Spotify employees repeatedly tell us they are far more likely to open a personal email versus a canned announcement or press release form a label or management company.  Identify a playlist that you really like and try to find out the editor of that playlist.  No guaranty that you will hear back from them but it is definitely worth a shot.  Also look to distributors for help.  If you have a track record of selling your music independently or getting tens of thousands of streams, you may be able to entice a distributor to put your music out to all outlets.  These companies have teams that are in constant communication with streaming services.  They will pitch your music to playlists and have the relationships to actually get it done.  Finally, when you release your music, make sure you direct everything, your press/social posts/interview answers etc. to the platform on which you want the most spins.  Use embeddable codes from your chosen platform on every post to maximize spins.  All of these and the help of a solid squad will help to maximize spins, revenue and happiness (well maybe not the last one).

Sharing is Caring, but please paper your collaboration

 

As seen from our last L4M post, success in the music industry is often dependent upon the people around you; managers, lawyers, and booking agents make up your “team”. But what about those other musicians that help you create the sound? The artist’s you work with to make a song. Collaborations are so common these days even bands with numerous members are bringing in teams of producers, a second percussionist or guitarist, and additional vocalists. So why does it matter? You work with your friends to create great music, right? Its true, but defining roles and ownership is essential in protecting your music. Some of the biggest disputes in the industry today involve payments to collaborators, the rightful ownership to a song involving guest musicians and artists.

Take for example the dispute between Jack Urbont and Sony Music Entertainment over the theme song for Iron Man. (Urbont v. Sony Music Ent., 100 F.Supp.3d 342 (2015)). Sony released a song by hip-hop artist, Ghost Face Killah, which used a portion of the Iron Man theme song and only received permission from Marvel Television but not Urbont. The main issue being when Urbont worked on the original theme song with Marvel was whether his contribution was considered a work for hire or should he own part of the composition with Marvel. The parties ended up settling out of court after Sony was granted the right to use a work for hire defense against Urbont. So what’s the takeaway? You need to decide prior to releasing any music whether your bestie is taking a fee, getting any rights to the composition or both.

“Work for hire” is a legal term in the copyright act that in a nutshell means you are being paid for your services as a musician but will not own any of the intellectual property to the song. Think of it as any service you pay for, if a carpenter makes you an original table, you pay him or her for the workmanship and the table, but the carpenter doesn’t receive ownership in the table and doesn’t receive a portion of the funds when you resell it. Same for a work for hire musician or vocalist. Work for hires are the most common when the musician doesn’t create anything original, they are just playing or singing what you put in front of them. However, work for hires are becoming more and more common with writers, musicians and producers who contribute original material to the song. Why would they do that? First because you give them a big paycheck and second because they don’t think the song will make more money then the paycheck, it’s a win-win for them.

On the other hand, if you are a songwriter and you ask your friend the guitar player to come in and write the melody, it makes more sense to split the ownership of the composition. This is when you want a guest artist agreement in place so that you won’t have to track down the guitar player every time you receive a license request or want to make a remix. What if you want to use part of that melody in another part of a song? You will need to ask the guitar player for permission and he or she can argue that they want their ownership percentage to stay the same even though your using only a portion of the melody. A guest artist agreement will prevent this headache as you can outline each individual’s rights and permissions involved with the song.

Sometimes artists will collaborate and give both a fee and ownership over the composition. In this case, the fee is treated as an advance that needs to be recouped against profits. Think of it as paying the artist upfront for what you think they will make off of the sale of the song in the future. Until the song recoups the advance amount they won’t receive payment from a label or you, even though they own rights to the composition.

So how do you ensure that all of this is done correctly? Unfortunately, a handshake will not suffice. A legal document signed by both of you will be necessary. Lots of writers and producers use session sheets to delegate publishing splits, but this doesn’t clarify who can do what with the copyright and definitely doesn’t help you in a work for hire situation. Having a lawyer draft this for you is the safest bet, but the good news is that often you can reuse work for hire agreements by changing the name and the fee instead of paying for a new document every time (don’t tell your lawyer I said that). The most important thing is to read the agreement and make sure you understand it!! Ask questions, do your research, and know what rights you have or are giving up. Just make sure that on the day you hit number one you’re not scrambling to get your former bestie to sign a work for hire agreement.

by Lauren Schulz (lschulz@tkhlaw.com)

 

#Squad

I’m sorry (again) for the lack of posts over the last several months (make that years).  The truth is that we have been too busy working and have let our attention to this important outlet lapse.  Instead of promising to write more, we want to make sure we are posting quality info that can actually help musicians.

In line with that thinking, here is the most important thing that we have come to understand a bit better over the last 12 months or so:  a musician’s team (#squad) is more important now then it has ever been.  The team is still in second place behind the music (position 1a) and the work ethic of the musician (1b), but in today’s music industry, the people that you have working for you, representing you and seeking opportunities for you is more crucial now then ever before.

There has been plenty written about the demise of the major label system.  What seems to be going largely unnoticed or undocumented is the growing roll of those left behind: Managers.  Management (effective management) has now become the true one-stop-shop for a musician.  Management is the new label.  As management, we are faced with the same set of facts and challenges as a label.  An artist creates music and now wants to bring it to the masses.  Yes, you can get that music out yourself as an artist but how do you make a dent in the din of new releases on Spotify, SoundCloud or Apple?

To make a living as an artist you need to do more then just post your music on the internet. You still need to get a significant number of eyeballs and eardrums to consume your product.  So the management team is faced with this challenge without (typically) the luxury of having the deep pockets, employees and relationships that labels have (or had).

An artist’s manager is now in charge of planning a release schedule, getting artwork created, lining up press (more than your mom reposting on facebook), booking shows, figuring splits, clearing samples, registering publishing, monetizing all outlets including YouTube and SoundCloud, paying out band members, featured artists, promoting the release and live shows, finding potential brand sponsors and licensing opportunities etc. etc.  All of this without a budget.  I’m tired just writing all of these duties and responsibilities.

I’m not implying that a manager is going to literally be able to do all of these things himself, but he will have to figure out who to line up to help with this process.  Managers must either strategically team up with the right professionals or outsource these services without breaking the bank.  Yes, getting your music on all outlets is pretty easy (TuneCore etc.) but getting on a top Spotify Playlist is not.  Yes, booking a show in your home town is very doable but playing in another city is not.  Yes, finding someone to remix your track is not hard but figuring out the rights of that new recording is not.

Our opinion is that artists should do what they are best at: making music.  To permit this, managers need to keep everything else moving forward.  Managers must leverage all relationships and forge ahead with qualified distributors, booking agents, pr agents, and lawyers to realize real success in today’s industry.

I’ve been told to write about what you know best so I can share the story of how we have created our team over here at The Propelr (www.thepropler.com).  Obviously we have legal taken care of (www.tkhlaw.com) but we brought on staff to handle all admin from calendar/schedule to financial bookkeeping to merchandise fulfillment.  We partnered with a PR company that shares in our percentage income from artists or gives us preferred rates when we need to use their services (ttps://subvertagency.tumblr.com/).  We have a licensing company working out of our space that is constantly pitching our music (http://brewhousemusic.com/).  We share space with a branding and marketing agency (www.workwithdomino.com) that helps with artwork, social media campaigns and overall branding for our clients.  There is a concert promoter working out of our office too (www.silverwrapper.com).  So short of having a booking agency in house, we have created a co-op of sorts that allows us to really serve our clients much in the same manner that labels used to do.  Obviously I am biased, but I don’t see how else you can really provide value to an artist without building this type of squad.

Want to learn more?  Just hit us up.

TBT: How to Make it as a Musician

Recently a client’s father asked if his aspiring musician daughter should put a physical care package of sorts together to send out to labels, managers and PR. He thought that this was the best way to get someone’s attention who could help out his daughter’s career. After politely disagreeing, this is what we suggested instead:

It’s really difficult to try to summarize how to make it as a musician.  Especially in the current market.  There used to be a defined set of steps to take but now the easiest answer is: it depends.

I think the be all and end all is good music.  With a budget you can push crappy music, but eventually it filters out and the public loses interest.

So assuming an artist has good music, what are the next steps?

First, determine what content you are releasing:  Is it a single, an EP, an album a video or some combination of the foregoing?

Set a release date and focus all of your attention at getting as many taste makers (blogs, websites, music influencers, friends, families, super fans etc.) to be aware of that date.  Try to get some press (local or otherwise) to focus on the release and tease the public as to when the release is coming out so that you can maximize the attention on the day of your release.  There are many ways of doing that: contests, give aways, bonus tracks etc.  Something that will get people excited.

Once the music is out, you have to continue to push it.  Usually this is done with touring.  Sometimes this is done with radio promotion (which requires a decent budget).  The press push continues and you look at where your music is performing well.  Hit press in those areas as well as venues and try to tour there.

All along, you should be trying to sell merchandise (if you have it) at your shows and online.  Bundling music with shirts, stickers etc. can help.

Try to get other musicians to support your release (and support there’s as well).  You need other musicians for several reasons; touring with support, features on their songs, more fans to reach out to etc.

All the while, create new content.  Whether that means releasing a video, releasing concert footage, releasing a b-side track or a follow up song, you have to stay present and can’t afford for too much lag between the time of releases.

Throughout this process you need a lawyer to make sure that everything is properly documented.  Producer agreements, feature artist agreements, registrations etc.   It is much cheaper to handle ahead of time then after the fact.  A solid lawyer is usually the first thing you need when starting your career as a musician.  Ask other entrepreneurs as to what professional they hired first.  Typically it is either an accountant or a lawyer.

While a manager and PR team may help, it still comes down to content and the artist working full time on the project.  No one will work as hard as you do for your own art.  End of story.  Artists who expect or hope that a manager will get them to where they want to go typically don’t even need a manager.

Demo packages are pretty useless these days.  You need an EPK to be able to easily email people key information about yourself (contact info, social media numbers, soundcloud links etc.) but demos or promotional packages are ignored by industry folks 9 times out of 10.

The Up and Comers, Breakouts and our WOW Performances from SXSW

Now that South by Southwest has wrapped and we are all back at our day jobs, we at Lawyers 4 Musicians want to bring you back to the music and share with you our favorite showcases from this year’s festival. Since we are lawyers (and not musicians) we brought in Whitney Jones from Propelr Music and Shoplifter Music to give us that extra musical insight on the performances that impressed us the most!

  • Lewis Del Mar at Whisler’s – this five-piece band was one of the favorite up and comers this year. We were able to catch them at their first show of the festival on Whisler’s intimate patio. The acoustic guitar mixed with electronic beat topped by frontman, Danny Miller’s laid back vocals, is a refreshing yet edgy new rock sound, certainly worth checking out.
  • Flint Eastwood at Darwin’s Pub – a definite highlight, Flint Eastwood from Detroit creates huge anthemic electro pop songs that could easily be sung by Katie Perry. An amazing live show, it was a complete surprise to see the energy and intensity this woman (Jax Anderson) could bring to her crowd.
  • Pillar Point at Flamingo Cantina – a tight performance from the charismatic frontman of Throw Me the Statute, Scott Reiherman. The layers and layers of synth, drums and guitar had everyone moving.
  • Deep Valley at Bungalow – a true rock and roll female duo, Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards, killed it. Troy’s, American flag fringed body suit gave her that true Joan Jett vibe. We loved her dominating and active stage presence (including her fearlessness to climb the monitors, drum set and anything else she could find).
  • Cloves at JW Marriott Ballroom (Universal Showcase) – Australian singer, Kaity Dunstan known as ‘Cloves’, impressed us with a voice somewhere between Adele and Alicia Keys. With her strong and emotional vocals backed by keys and a guitar, she will be interesting to watch and see where Universal takes her.
  • Jake Bugg at Old School Bar and Grill (Island Showcase) – We can’t help but love Jake Bugg, his cool persona and sound blow us away. His performance was on par, very tight, you could have mistaken it for listening to his album; the man doesn’t miss a key (or string for that matter).

Those are our favorites, check them out and tell us what you think, better yet, let us know if we missed one!

 

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SXSW 2016

 

The Lawyers 4 Musicians team is at South By Southwest this year to meet, learn and discover all of the up and comings in the music world. We will be keeping you posted on events we attend, new findings and tips for musicians, people we meet, and strategies to help you navigate through the legal realm of the music industry.

Let us know if you have questions, thoughts and/or ideas to contribute. If you are at SXSW, come meet us. Schedule a meet up with Josh or I by emailing us at jkaplan@tkhlaw.com or lschulz@tkhlaw.com. Hope to see you there!

Blurred Lines Decision

I’m happy to have been quoted in this article by Paul Schrodt and the Business Insider.

Please take a look here:  http://www.businessinsider.com/blurred-lines-case-music-copyright-2015-12