This New Project Could Make It Easier For Musicians To Get Their Royalties

Today, The Berklee College of Music's Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) in conjunction with the MIT Media Lab announced the Open Music Initiative (OMI). This proposal seeks to simplify how artists and labels are verified and receive compensation for their music.

Over 50 labels and streaming services like Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, Netflix, SoundCloud, Universal Music, and Warner Music have all signed on to the proposal, OMI said in a statement, "the first time that [such an] effort is led by a broad coalition."

Panos Panay, co-founder of OMI and Founding Managing Director of BerkleeICE, said that he believes OMI will help the music industry catch up to the listening habits of modern audiences. "We want to use the brainpower, neutrality and convening ability of our collective academic institutions, along with broad industry collaboration, to create a shared digital architecture for the modern music business. We believe an open sourced platform around creative rights can yield an innovation dividend for creators and rights holders alike.”