Music Web site Last.fm this week launched a royalty program that will pay artists a percentage of the company's advertising revenue for streaming their music on the site.
“This is a big day for independent artists as it marks the first time that musicians not affiliated with a label or royalty collection agency can collect revenue direct from a free streaming music platform," Last.fm's Jeff Marois wrote in a blog post.
CBS-owned Last.fm announced plans for the Artist Royalty Program earlier this year in conjunction with the launch of its on-demand music service.
“We're not printing money to pay for thisbut the business model is simple enough: we are paying artists and labels a share of advertising revenue from the Web site," Last.fm's Richard Jones said at the time.
Musicians or songwriters can only collect royalty rates from Last.fm if they own all the rights to their music or videos. Songs that have been assigned or licensed to a collection society like SoundExchange or a record label that already collects royalties, as well as cover songs and songs recorded with a composer, are not eligible.
“This is a big day for independent artists as it marks the first time that musicians not affiliated with a label or royalty collection agency can collect revenue direct from a free streaming music platform," Last.fm's Jeff Marois wrote in a blog post.
CBS-owned Last.fm announced plans for the Artist Royalty Program earlier this year in conjunction with the launch of its on-demand music service.
“We're not printing money to pay for thisbut the business model is simple enough: we are paying artists and labels a share of advertising revenue from the Web site," Last.fm's Richard Jones said at the time.
Musicians or songwriters can only collect royalty rates from Last.fm if they own all the rights to their music or videos. Songs that have been assigned or licensed to a collection society like SoundExchange or a record label that already collects royalties, as well as cover songs and songs recorded with a composer, are not eligible.
