Media Decoder Blog: Clear Channel and Taylor Swift's Label Agree to Reinvent Royalty System

(LOS ANGELES) — Radio station giant Clear Channel has signed a deal with Warner Music Group that will for the first time give a major recording company and its artists a cut of revenue generated from traditional radio station airplay. The deal is similar to one Clear Channel cut with Taylor Swift and her Big Machine Label Group last year, and bypasses the regulatory environment in the U.S., where traditional radio stations aren’t required to pay performers royalties for airplay. It has long been assumed performers benefit from the radio exposure in the form of sales.

Taylor Swift's record label has cut a groundbreaking deal with radio giant Clear Channel that pays the singer and other artists more money now and paves the way for the growth of online radio.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Taylor Swift's record label has cut a groundbreaking deal with radio giant Clear Channel that pays the singer and other artists more money now and paves the way for the growth of online radio....

Just days before Apple Music was scheduled to launch in June, Taylor Swift published a blog post criticizing the company for its artist royalty policy.

Taylor Swift has been paid less than $500,000 in the past 12 months for domestic streaming of her songs, Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Taylor Swift’s record label, the independent Nashville-based Big Machine, told TIME Wednesday. His statement is the latest salvo in an increasingly heated disagreement between Swift and Spotify. The disagreement has sent ripples through the music industry, with the country’s most successful musician removing her work from an admired new online music model.

Taylor Swift has been paid less than $500,000 in the past 12 months for domestic streaming of her songs, Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Taylor Swift’s record label, the independent Nashville-based Big Machine, told TIME Wednesday. His statement is the latest salvo in an increasingly heated disagreement between Swift and Spotify. The disagreement has sent ripples through the music industry, with the country’s most successful musician removing her work from an admired new online music model.

Taylor Swift just snubbed Apple: BuzzFeed News is reporting that the singer is refusing to put her most recent album "1989" on the company's upcoming music streaming service.

Taylor Swift's Spotify payout turns out to be much less than the streaming service led people to believe earlier this week. TIME Magazine reports that Swift earned $2 million from streaming her songs over the past year.