2014 Grammy Awards

Sunday January 26, 2014 was a big night in music history. The Staples Center in Los Angeles held the 56th Grammy Awards. Celebrities everywhere looking great and some looking, well let's just say, not so great. There were performances from the entertainment industry's power couple Beyonce and Jay Z to a shocking performance from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Madonna and Queen Latifah. 

The Grammy's kicked off with a hot steamy performance from my personal favorite, Beyoncé. Accompanying her was her hubby, Jay Z. The power couple performed their hit single Drunk in Love, which has taken the nation by storm hitting fifty five million views in one month. If you were not able to see the performance last night you can view it here.

The night continued with performances from Pink, Madonna, Kendrick Lamar, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry and more. To view all of the performances from last night, courtesy of Thatgrapejuice.net, click here. A list of all the 2014 Grammy Awards winners can be found here. 

One of the biggest moments of last night’s awards was the performance by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Mary Lambert, Madonna, and Queen Latifah. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis performed their hit song, "Same Love”. Half way through the performance, Madonna joined the rap duo along with Queen Latifah coming on stage and giving the audience the biggest surprise ever.

Queen Latifah, along with 34 couples, appeared in front of everyone seated in the Staples Center, while Queen Latifah officiated over the same-sex and straight marriages. According to the New York Times, Queen Latifah was recently deputized by Los Angeles County to perform the weddings and will even sign the marriage certificates for all the couples that participated in the ceremony.

Grammy organizers knew that there might be some controversy surrounding the wedding ceremony being held live on television due to those opposed to gay marriages. Should the couples stay on stage or should they be in the aisle of the audience. Would CBS get backlash for broadcasting this on their network? To find out the full story on how this epic performance was created, please click here. To view the performance please see below.

Overall the performances were great and I can’t wait till next year. Check back next week for highlights from the Super Bowl and Bruno Mars halftime performance.

SoundExchange To Launch Monthly Royalty Payments System

SoundExchange is an independent nonprofit performance rights organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties to artists and copyright holders. SoundExchange represents artists and is responsible for these artists and copyright holders in getting paid for their music played on digital radio. 

In the past, SoundExchange has been known for disbursing payment to artists and copyright holders on a quarterly basis. On January 14, 2014, SoundExchange announced on their website that they are moving to monthly royalty payments. The requirements to receive these payments monthly are:

• If the artist or copyright holder is signed up to receive electronic payments
• If the artist or copyright holder have royalties due of at least $250

If the artists or copyright holders do not meet these requirements they will continue to receive their royalty payments on a quarterly basis. By offering monthly payments to their clients, SoundExchange is taking their company to the next level. SoundExchange is the first company to offer monthly royalty payments. According to SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe, and I quote, 

“While SoundExchange was already a market-leader with quarterly distributions, moving to monthly payments takes our service to the next level. By making performance royalties available sooner, we are making it easier for recording artists and record labels to focus on creating the music we all enjoy.”

So how many artists and copyright holders are eligible to receive monthly payments? According to Billboard, SoundExchange tells them that half of its 15,000 to 18,000 payments each quarter are made electronically, and approximately 40% of payees signed up to receive electronic payment will exceed the $250 threshold. There are over 2000 services that pay royalties to SoundExchange. Some of the services include, Sirius XM, Music Choice, and Pandora. Digital performance royalties have grown and SoundExchange has paid out more than $2 billion in royalties since 2000.

This is a great benefit to artists and the copyright holders. I never understood why the companies held the royalties for so long. If you are an artist or copyright holder, will you sign up for electronic payments? Do you think this is a good idea that SoundExchange decided to do? Will other performance rights organizations follow in the footsteps of SoundExchange? Only time will tell if this was a great decision made from SoundExchange.