NEW YORK, April 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- VNUE, Inc.
(OTCQB: VNUE), the global leader in recording live events and releasing experiential content to fans, has officially closed its
deal to acquire Soundstr, a technology that aims to help
businesses pay fairer music license fees based on actual music usage.
The merger of VNUE's patent-pending MiC™ (Music Identification Center) system and Soundstr's own patent-pending music
identification technology and hardware aims to fix the current performing rights system. Currently, venues and other businesses
are somewhat discouraged from playing music due to high blanket license fees charged by the Performing Rights Organizations
(PROs), in which the PROs have no idea what's actually being played – meaning that in many cases, the correct rights holders are
not properly compensated.
Instead of paying these high blanket royalty rates, music licensees utilizing the Soundstr/MiC technology would only pay for
music played in their establishments, and the appropriate rights holders would then be properly and transparently compensated.
VNUE will also leverage the licensing infrastructure around its "instant live" recording technology to streamline the process for
these types of rights clearances.
"While the introduction of the Music Modernization Act is very encouraging in some areas of licensing reform, it does not
begin to address the problems of General Licensing, and since it's another blanket licensing system, it could merely continue to
perpetuate the inequities we see in performance licensing into mechanicals. With Soundstr, we have an incredible opportunity to
fix this system that's been broken for more than 50 years, and there's a potential for $3 billion
or more in royalties for general licensing that could be more fairly allocated to artists and songwriters," said VNUE CEO
Zach Bair. "Since we announced our intent to acquire Soundstr in February, it was exciting to see
Spotify (SPOT) follow our lead into music rights with their acquisition of Loudr. It is very clear that this is an important move
for the future."
Soundstr was founded by Eron Bucciarelli-Tieger (previously of platinum-selling rock band
Hawthorne Heights).
"Our goal with Soundstr is to make real-world music use as transparent as possible so songwriters can receive what they are
properly due, while helping licensees pay the fees that are aligned with their music
use," said Bucciarelli-Tieger. "VNUE is the perfect partner to help Soundstr move forward with those goals,
and we are excited to be pushing forward."
For more information on VNUE, please visit http://www.vnue.com/.
About VNUE, Inc. (www.vnue.com)
VNUE, Inc., (OTC: VNUE) is dedicated to further monetizing the live music experience for artists, labels, writers, and
publishers, with products such as its set.fm platform, exclusive license partner and "instant live" pioneer DiscLive, and
Soundstr, which helps businesses pay fairer music license fees based on actual music usage. The veteran entrepreneurs, artists
and songwriters behind VNUE are passionate about the future of their industry and ensuring that rights holders' value is not lost
amid always-changing technology. VNUE's team has produced live content and created experiential products for over 15 years for
artists and companies including Father John Misty, The Pixies, Blondie, EMI, Capitol Records, and
more.
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SOURCE VNUE, Inc.