The Phillip Burton Federal Building. Photo Credit: Marincyclist
Let the battle of lyric providers continue: Following several months of discussions, LyricFind and Musixmatch have failed to reach a mediation agreement – meaning an agreement about beginning mediation – in their ugly courtroom confrontation.
Counsel for each of the platforms (and Musixmatch parent TPG, which is also a defendant) just recently disclosed as much in a brief letter to the court. And this letter followed multiple similar updates, all arriving on the heels of a May order to get the mediation ball rolling.
In late June, the litigants informed the presiding judge that they’d “been actively negotiating a framework for a potential mediation, subject to certain conditions, to be agreed upon by the parties.”
At July’s end, a different letter touched on the same key points before the latest of the filings confirmed that the lengthy discussions had been fruitless.
“The parties are not in agreement on whether a mediation at this point in time would be productive given their respective settlement positions,” LyricFind and Musixmatch spelled out.
Per the document, LyricFind “is open to mediating at this time, despite the gap in the parties’ settlement positions, because it believes mediation is an appropriate venue for trying to bridge the parties’ positions.”
But on the opposite side of the showdown, TPG and Musixmatch “are not open to mediating at this time due to the gap between the parties’ settlement positions,” according to the text.
While “(b)oth sides remain open to discussing the potential for settlement or a potential mediation session,” at least in the near term, this openness seems unlikely to bring about actual progress towards a resolution.
With that, it’ll be worth continuing to closely monitor the unique legal battle (and its impact on the evidently lucrative lyrics market) moving forward.
We’ve been covering the clash in detail from the outset, but LyricFind only fired off its second amended complaint, spanning more than 80 pages, over the summer.
Given the suit’s length, it probably goes without saying that there are a number of moving parts in play. But the short version is that LyricFind claims to have been leading the lyric-provider pack and closing in on a sizable Spotify deal as a result.
In response, TPG in 2023 allegedly moved to purchase LyricFind, and after the buyout attempt fell through, the focus shifted to “unprecedented” exclusive publisher agreements.
Ultimately, TPG and Musixmatch found a taker in Warner Chappell, which they allegedly paid “a significant premium, worth millions of dollars each year,” for an exclusive license.
From there, the entities allegedly moved to “force Spotify, along with all other major DSPs, to purchase” Musixmatch lyric services “at substantially higher prices.”
Was the strategy the natural result of fierce competition or one component of a wider “anticompetitive scheme”? That question is best left to the legal system – though to reiterate an obvious-but-important point, the market isn’t standing still while the case unfolds.
Last month, LyricFind announced a monetization-focused partnership with self-described “all-in-one publishing platform” Monetunes.
Additionally, September’s first few days brought with them the rollout of LyricFind’s “Verified Artist Program” (which is said to enable artists to “directly control their lyrics on the platforms and DSPs that LyricFind powers”) and Musixmatch Pro for Labels.
In keeping with its name, the latter is designed to help labels maximize “lyric coverage at scale,” thereby boosting discoverability, fan engagement, and more.