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Business News Deals Digital Labels & Publishers
Triller agrees licensing deal with US music publishers trade group
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 25 March 2021
Triller has got itself another friend within the music industry, following recent skirmishes with Universal Music and Wixen. The US National Music Publishers Association yesterday announced that it had agreed a licensing agreement with the video-sharing app on behalf of its members.
In a statement, the trade group’s CEO David Israelite said: “NMPA is pleased to have come to an agreement with Triller to account for the past use of songs as well as a forward-looking licence for our eligible independent publisher members”.
“Music is foundational to Triller’s platform and it is essential that the songwriters who create that music are paid for their contributions to the Triller experience”, he went on. “Music and video offer limitless potential to social media platforms. However, compensating songwriters must be a primary consideration, not an afterthought. Triller has recognised the importance of music creators and made a positive step forward by coming to this partnership”.
Commenting from Triller’s side, the firm’s Executive Chair Bobby Sarnevesht told Billboard: “We are very excited to enter this partnership with the NMPA, which ensures that songwriters are fairly compensated and fully recognised for their work. David Israelite and the NMPA team are truly amazing advocates for writers and publishers, and we greatly look forward to working with him and the NMPA membership to demonstrate Triller’s ongoing commitment to supporting writers”.
Although Triller has had deals in place with various music companies for some time, Israelite noted last year that there were plenty of gaps in its licences on the song rights side, when posting in response to the news that the digital firm had raised a load of new finance.
Independent music publisher Wixen then sued Triller for copyright infringement last November, and although the case was dismissed last month, that was based on legal technicalities. Also last month, Universal pulled its catalogue from the app after failing to reach an agreement to extend its previous licensing deal with the digital company.
The agreement with the NMPA is basically a template deal that the trade body’s members can choose to opt into.
