Warner Chappell launches custom licensing model for Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'

Posted Dec 11th 2007 4:34PM by Richard Driver
Filed under: Law, Internet, Next Big Thing, Technology

Billboard reported yesterday that Radiohead and long-time publisher Warner/Chappell Music, a division of Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG), have created "a unique 'all rights' digital licensing service for the alternative rock band's new album In Rainbows." This arrangement is in anticipation of the upcoming physical release of the album, following the two months it was available on a special website set up by Radiohead, which ended yesterday.

According to Billboard, Warner/Chappell set up a "global one-stop shop" which allows potential rights users to acquire the rights to the album from one location. In queue with Radiohead's initial decision to release the album without the music labels, this "one-stop shop" effectively removes those same entities from the rights process and keeps direct control with the band and the publisher. Jane Dyball, the senior VP of Warner/Chappell for European legal and business affairs, told Billboard that the arrangement is an "'experimental solution,' which should benefit Radiohead while 'providing all their licensees with a new, highly flexible service.'"

This service is applicable to both digital and other outlets, with Warner/Chappell administering a variety of rights both online and offline. It's no surprise that Radiohead would arrange this kind of specific arrangement with its publisher, and it sounds like it should make the acquiring of rights easier than the current models allow. We should not have expected any but this from Radiohead as the band charts a new path in the music industry. That path seems to effectively cut the music industry out, leaving that entity as little more than a distributing and advertising mechanism.

Tags: digital rights, DigitalRights, intellectual property, IntellectualProperty, inthenews, music, music law, MusicLaw, ownership, publishing, Radiohead