The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), the nation’s leading provider of rights management, licensing, and royalty services for the music industry, and Songtrust, the groundbreaking online music publishing administration service from the well-respected Downtown Music, have announced a collaboration that will exponentially increase the exploitation of independent publishers’ content. The program provides increased exposure for Songtrust members via HFA’s expansive song database and ensures back-office support for the efficient collection and distribution of royalties.
Songtrust’s mission is to simplify music publishing for songwriters by providing a straightforward means for them to properly register and protect all of their songs as well as track and collect royalties. With this collaboration in place, Songtrust (www.songtrust.com) and HFA will work together to facilitate licensing of content as well as ensure the monetization of copyrighted works for DIY publishers. More specifically, as experts in rights management, HFA will provide Songtrust with outsourced licensing and royalty administration services so they can focus on closely servicing the DIY market.
Songtrust members will be able to take advantage of the many revenue opportunities currently only offered to HFA’s affiliated music publishers. Compositions written by Songtrust members will now be accessible to thousands of potential licensees for use for CDs, downloads, on-demand streams and ringtones, as well as innovative new media licensing opportunities including lyrics, guitar tablature, digital jukeboxes and background music. Compositions will also be available through HFA’s online licensing tool, Songfile (www.songfile.com). This popular online tool is used to clear cover songs for limited-quantity licenses for CDs, download, on-demand streams and ringtones, providing an additional revenue stream for songwriters.
In line with Songtrust’s mission, the two companies will partner to create a series of innovative educational programs aimed at DIY songwriters/publishers who want to learn more about the inner-workings of music publishing, empowering them to more effectively manage their song copyrights.
“HFA is committed to supporting the increasingly important and growing DIY market. There is a wealth of creativity produced by this community and we want to do all we can to provide them with the necessary tools to make their music available for licensing and expose their songs to new audiences,” said Gary Churgin, President & CEO of HFA. “Together with Songtrust we allow DIY songwriters to focus on their craft, while we handle the business side of licensing for them.”
“Our primary goal is to offer songwriters an equal opportunity to monetize their copyrights, said Downtown Music Publishing President and Songtrust Co-Founder Justin Kalifowitz. “As the gold-standard in U.S. mechanical royalty collection and an innovator in the digital licensing arena, we are thrilled to partner with HFA in delivering premier music publishing administration services to our members.”
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About HFA
HFA is the nation’s leading provider of rights management, licensing and royalty services for the music industry. With over 46,000 music publishing clients, HFA issues the largest number of licenses for the use of music in both physical and digital distribution formats. HFA also serves the D.I.Y. market with Songfile®, the company’s fast and easy online licensing tool. HFA’s service offering includes a suite of outsourced technology solutions designed to facilitate the administration of intellectual property rights. As a technology innovator, HFA is leading the industry in establishing global data standards and is a founding member and Board member of the Digital Data Exchange (DDEX). Additionally, HFA was recognized by InformationWeek on its 2010 Top 500 Relentless Innovators list, where the company ranked 121. For more information about HFA visit our website at harryfox.com.
Songfile, eMechanical and eSong are registered trademarks of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., all rights reserved.
About Songtrust
Songtrust is the first online solution that empowers all songwriters to take control of their music publishing rights by simplifying the process of song registration and royalty collections. Developed by Downtown Music, this is the first digital publishing service of its kind, complementing the array of online promotion, tour planning, and digital distribution tools being used by an increasingly empowered generation of DIY musicians. Songtrust educates and empowers songwriters, producers, and recording artists to protect their songs, track their music, and collect publishing royalties in the global marketplace.
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