SoundExchange

We built a Ferrari and needed a scooter is what I tell people like I didn't even know.

I feel like, maybe I misread this, but did I read you guys have some relationship with SoundExchange? Yeah, we

actually-

How would that work? Because SoundExchange is really public performance more than streaming.

Let

me tell you.

I mean, I will tell you.

They're my favorite, one of my favorite customers.

Right.

And you have SoundExchange collecting digital performance royalties for the sound recording.

They are all collecting different fractions of income for different types of rights using different databases that absolutely do not talk to each other.

It creates a massive tangled administrative burden.

Yeah, that's what it's built for.

Right.

It could theoretically crawl through the databases of ASCAP, BMI, the MLC, and SoundExchange simultaneously.

It could automatically compare recording identifiers, composition registrations, and ownership percentages, and instantly flag inconsistencies for the artist to review.

I just kept going, better songs, better recordings.

Then a friend of mine, Mark Rucker, who's at Sound Exchange, had just left a management role.

And I kind of was like, what made you make that change? I'm also moving out.

And he went, I just wanted to work with more artists and help artists.

And, you know, so Sound Exchange was a good fit.

And he goes, have you ever thought about managing record producers? And I said, never once

had I thought

And as music has expanded from radio to satellite and streaming, it's only gotten more complicated.

That's where SoundExchange comes in.

It collects and distributes digital performance royalties to recording artists and sound recording rights owners when their music is played on services like SiriusXM, Pandora, and other non-interactive digital platforms.

But the way we listen to music keeps changing, technology keeps changing, and now AI is raising a whole new set of questions about who owns a performer's voice and who gets paid when it's used.

So how do we make sure artists aren't left behind? Joining me today is Michael Hubby, the president and CEO of SoundExchange, which has distributed more than $13 billion.

Yes, that's with a B, billion dollars in digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 850,000 music creators.

Mike, welcome to the SAG-AFTRA podcast.

Sure.

How does that look? Where was that money and how do you find it?

Yeah, so generally speaking, it's right now for us in the MLC or SoundExchange, the two US black boxes.

And a large majority of the time, it's in the MLC.

And I think the reason for that is even if the song was registered perfectly on day one, there's sort of a YouTube content ID-like dynamic to it where there's new recordings coming out all the time that use that publishing work.

And so plus usage for the higher end, but not a percentage, importantly.

And so that is by design.

It helps us work with the pseudo government entities like the MLC and SoundExchange who don't love those models.

But it also lets us work with anybody who wants to work with us.

I didn't know about a portal.

I didn't know about Sound Exchange and ASCAP.

Well, I knew about ASCAP, but those is, you know, those is crumbs.

Unless you Drake, and even then, it's still like nothing crazy.