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"Virtual label" representing 12,000 indies working on licensing deals

12 June 2008 3:26 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 1 comment

Despite the playing field levelling capabilities provided by the internet, for most musical acts it remains a fact of life that the four major labels simply have more power than the numerous independents. When it comes to negotiating licensing deals the independents are still at a disadvantage - or at least they have been until recently.

Now independent labels have been getting organized into a new "virtual label" called Merlin. Merlin, which counts labels from around the world as members, was originally organized more than a year ago. Since then they've grown to include more than 12,000 labels, which account for around 8% of all music sold in the US. While that may not seem like very much, it's approximately equal to the market share of EMI, which is the smallest of the four majors.

According to Merlin's chairman Bob Frank, who also runs indie label KOCH Records, Merlin is "in discussions with Last.fm and MySpace as well as other major digital companies" to distribute members' music.

If nothing else, this is their big chance to show they can do a better job of thriving in the digital world than the major labels.

Permalink to this article | Topics: MP3 & Digital Audio Online music services

MySpace Music finally launches (26 September 2008)

Music website iLike adds free streaming playback (21 July 2008)

Last.fm launches indie-music royalty program (10 July 2008)

Orange opens music download store (12 June 2008)

Independent labels want better iTunes deal (5 May 2008)

Indie labels form agency for digital downloads (22 January 2007)

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nobrainer (Inactive) 12 June 2008 10:56
this is clearly the better option for artists as they get to keep their own works, & lets hope the royalties are distributed fairly & that they are not screwed by digital downloads, as riaa signed artists have had royalties lowered and in many cases refused. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12 June 2008 11:34