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Digital
TuneCore tunes taken off Amazon in Europe
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 2 February 2012
Music from artists represented by US-based independent digital distributor TuneCore is not currently available via Amazon MP3 in Europe, it was confirmed yesterday, because of a dispute between the distributor and the online retailer.
Amazon seemingly removed content provided by TuneCore from its download store on 24 Jan after talks to renew the retailer’s licensing deal with the indie distributor hit problems. TuneCore claims that there had been issues receiving payments from Amazon under the old contract, and that it wants that matter addressed before entering into a new deal. Despite accusing Amazon of employing “heavy handed” negotiating tactics by pulling all TuneCore content as talks were ongoing, the distributor’s high profile co-founder Jeff Price said he was confident a deal would be reached.
Writing on his company’s blog, Price explained: “Amazon removed your recordings as a result of an issue regarding royalty payments by Amazon to TuneCore customers. The delay in resolving this issue resulted in the TuneCore/Amazon European Union and United Kingdom agreement expiring without being renewed”.
He continued: “Although we fully intended to renew, TuneCore also had to address the fact that over the course of the agreement, Amazon had not been paying TuneCore artists to license their songs for download in a significant number of the recordings distributed. We felt this put TuneCore in a position where if we renewed with Amazon in this territory without sorting out the position regarding all the rights involved, it would be contrary to TuneCore’s core business philosophy and purpose: getting artists and songwriters paid all the royalties they are owed”.
TuneCore’s impasse with Amazon only affects the EU. Amazon, for its part, is yet to comment on its talks with the distributor regarding its European stores.
Elsewhere in Amazon news, the online retail firm’s share price dropped yesterday following the news the company’s profits for the all important Christmas quarter were down 58% year on year despite net sales increasing 35%.
