January 23, 2010

By By Ed Christman, N.Y.

RightsFlow, which provides mechanical licensing for labels and digital service providers, has signed a deal to identify and license PRS for Music works for mechanical uses in the U.S.

Since digital service providers began paying for streaming, subscription and advertising supported service in July, royalties can be held in escrow by DSPs, labels and aggregators. This deal can facilitate payment to the proper publishers and songwriters.

The deal allows RightsFlow to make payments to U.K.-based songwriters and publishers for the songs and albums they sell or make available from digital service providers and aggregators serviced by RightsFlow. DSPs serviced by the company include Amie Street Canada, Muzac, and Hoodiny and aggregators include IODA, the Orchid and Ingrooves.

While many British music publishers have sub-publishing agreements in the U.S., and PRS has reciprocal agreements with mechanical collecting societies around the world, the agreement fills a crucial gap, ensuring that UK songwriters receive royalties from digital transactions in the United States even where content does not have North American representation, according to a statement.

In other RightsFlow news: [PIAS] Entertainment Group has contracted with RightsFlow to provide mechanical licensing and royalty payment services for all its 200 distributed labels. The labels of the Brussels, Belgium-based distributor and can use RightFlow's licensing, accounting and royalty payment technology to ensure that music is properly licensed and royalty accounting and payments from U.S. digital sales can be directed to the appropriate recipients.

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