Spotify's sneaky songwriter pay move and Blackstone vs. Concord: Talking Trends

On this episode of Music Business Worldwide's Talking Trends, MBW
founder, Tim Ingham, is once again joined by Charlie
D'Atri, to discuss two key recent headlines from the world of
entertainment: 

(1) A battle between Concord and financial giant Blackstone to
acquire Hipgnosis Songs Fund – the UK-listed bundle of music
rights accumulated by Merck Mercuriadis; 

(2) Spotify's decision to re-categorize its Premium subscription
tiers as 'bundles' – including audiobooks – that will materially
lessen the royalty rate paid to songwriters in the US.

People and companies mentioned on this Talking Trends podcast
include: Spotify, Daniel Ek, Blackstone, Merck Mercuriadis,
Concord, NMPA, David Israelite, EQT, Shot Tower Capital, BMG,
Citrin Cooperman, and more.