News

Upon a recent visit to Washington, D.C., multi-Platinum, Grammy-award winning artist NE-YO and RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman sat down to chat about a range of issues, including NE-YO’s storied music career, writing hits for Beyonce, Kanye West, Rihanna and others and his role as Senior Vice President of Artist and Repertoire (A&R) for Motown Records, among other topics.

“I just want to be one of the last great storytellers,” said NE-YO when describing his music career. “The greatest compliment I’ve ever been given – I’ve had people walk up on me and say, ‘Me and my wife’s first dance was to one of your songs,’ or ‘I was going through a really tough time with a breakup and your song helped me get through it.’ This is why I do what I do.”

As SVP of A&R for Motown Records, NE-YO is responsible for discovering new talent and bringing talent to the label. Asked by Sherman what he looks for in an artist he signs, NE-YO responded, “For me, it’s always about passion…if there’s no passion behind [your music], it becomes very ‘for the moment.’ And nothing ‘for the moment’ is ever worth it…”

“And you can definitely see it on a person. If there was no money, if there was no fame and fortune, he would still be somewhere with a guitar in his hand – that’s the guy I’m trying to sign.”

In his conversation with Sherman, NE-YO touted the benefits of being signed to a record label. “The label is support,” said NE-YO. “When you want [your music] to move a little further than just your block or your city, that costs money. It’s not a cheap thing. It’s not an easy thing. From a standpoint of distribution, from the standpoint of marketing and promotion, there’s a million things that you can do yourself, but when you need that extra long arm to get you even further, that’s where the label comes in.”

Check out more of their conversation here:

 

A triple threat singer, songwriter, and actor, NE-YO’s hit “Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)” was certified RIAA Platinum in 2013. Three of NE-YO’s albums — 2006’s “In My Own Words,” 2007’s “Because of You,” 2008’s “Year of the Gentleman” – have gone RIAA Platinum and produced several popular hits, including “Miss Independent,” “Sexy Love,” “Because of You,” “Mad” and “Closer.” NE-YO has also appeared in several films including Stomp The Yard, Save the Last Dance, Red Tails, and Battle: Los Angeles and written music for films such as The Princess and the Frog, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire and I Can Do Bad All by Myself.

“What’s the one thing that never gets old? Listen how the story unfolds…”

Today, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released its report highlighting markets around the world in which the theft of U.S. intellectual property is open and notorious. Included in its report were a number of online sites that have a uniquely prejudicial impact on the ability to develop viable legitimate online music marketplaces in some key territories, and whose practices are particularly intolerable. There are three in particular that jump off the page: Russia’s vKontakte, Ukraine’s ex.ua, and Vietnam’s Zing.

Today our colleagues at the International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA) submitted, on behalf of us and other creative industry organizations, a report to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on recommended reforms “needed to address the theft of intellectual property and other barriers to overseas markets faced by U.S. industries that rely on copyright protection.” That submission was part of the USTR’s annual so-called “Special 301” process. You can read more details here.

As a quick refresher, RIAA member companies sued SiriusXM last fall in California for refusing to pay for its use of music made before 1972, despite repeatedly playing these popular songs on various SiriusXM channels.

Before you read any further, click this link for the blog post by the always illuminating Seth Godin (I’d also recommend this book of his expanding on the subject). What Mr. Godin understands so well is the importance of human connection and group activity for everything from art to household goods to ideas.

Nielsen and Billboard recently released topline sales data on the U.S. music industry for 2013. Unlike previous years, there is a strong – and we think well deserved – emphasis on streaming music listening. Still, we believe there is more to the story, as the streaming component provides important context for a number of reasons.

Holy trillion! The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) – of which RIAA is a member – recently issued its report titled Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2013 Report that lists some statistics on the value provided by U.S. copyright industries – think music, movies, books, software, video games, and other sectors – to the U.S. economy, and they paint a compelling picture.

Those who follow @RIAA on Twitter or have caught our Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman presenting at a campus or forum near you know we often discuss examples of how music is a centrifugal force of commerce and culture.

The RIAA submitted our recommendations in connection with U.S. Trade Representative’s annual “notorious markets” cycle, an initiative designed to expose businesses who operate illegally, whether by profiting directly from the sale or other distribution of illegal materials or from facilitating such theft—in many cases through the sale of advertising space. The common thread shared by these notorious markets is that they unfairly deny creators the opportunity to generate revenue from the commercial use of their works.