Copycat Bands Digital Squatters

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Tribute band Led Zepagain has managed to horn in on Led Zeppelin’s search parameters.

Bands like The Beatles are allowing their songs to be heard on Internet radio services, like Pandora, which pay-out royalties whenever the songs play. But a select group of top-tier bands have banned their songs from”interactive streaming services,” where homage bands are staking a claim, getting cover-versions of popular recordings played by virtue of search-friendly parameters — names like Led Zepagain or Liverpool Beat.

That’s because streaming services — which allow users to hear songs on-demand — must negotiate license deals with rights holders for all songs offered, writes Bill Rosenblatt of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies at Forbes.com. Rosenblatt notes that “Liverpool Beat turns out to be someone’s agglomeration of Beatles covers by various artists, apparently put together for the express purpose of being findable on digital music services when the user is looking for Beatles music.”

Well, in addition to whomever holds the publishing rights, someone’s getting paid.

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