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Business News Labels & Publishers
Universal Music Publishing further ramps up its royalty portal
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 20 July 2015
It’s all about royalty data and transparent online reporting in the world of songwriting in 2015, we all know that, lyrics and melody seemingly coming in fifth and third on the big priority list, so all hail the “major new enhancements” announced by Universal Music Publishing this morning to its Royalty Window system, or the “company’s state-of-the-art online royalty account portal” if you prefer.
The new features, available in the US and UK immediately, and due to roll out worldwide over the coming year, include balance updates as royalties are processed during a royalty period and, more interestingly perhaps, the ability to request an advance against incoming royalties for no additional fee. This is in addition to the various royalty data services already offered by the portal.
Announcing the latest developments, Universal Music Publishing CEO Jody Gerson told reporters: “Because of our industry-leading technology we’re able to continually develop new features and services that meet the needs of our songwriters. Universal Music Publishing Group continues to be at the forefront in offering the very best system and global copyright administration worldwide”.
Music publishers are increasingly starting to compete on the way they report royalty data, of course, with the Kobalt system the highest profile in this domain, but a number of other key players have also made considerable strides in their reporting technologies to give songwriters better access to up-to-date royalty and income information.
Though even the best systems are subject to info-delays caused by blockages elsewhere in the system, the slow reporting of some collecting societies and other problems caused by the lack of a global repertoire database. And many songwriters remain confused as to what royalties they receive from different services, and when to expect payment from their publisher or their performing rights organisation. Still, all steps in the right direction.