Los Angeles-based rock bands Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers have signed an exclusive new deal. Audiam has signed the rock bands to a publication contract, which concerns the North American digital distribution of their catalogs through Amazon Prime, Beats, Deezer, Google Play, iTunes Match, Rhapsody, and Spotify.
Audiam was founded by the same people who created Tunecore, and collects money in the interest of the participating artist and their publishers for the digital utilization of streaming service. This includes scan and match locker services, ringtone services, downloads outside of the United States, and other digital mediums. Jeff Price is the former CEO of TuneCore, and founder and current CEO of Audiam. He mentions that these deals are just a recent example of musicians and publishers seeking a new format. Audiam hopes to provide a format that presents an efficient and effective method of collecting their mechanical royalties. The service has an eclectic list of clients, including Tori Amos, Jimmy Buffet, Phil Collins, Herbie Hancock, Rogers & Hammerstein, Kris Kristofferson, Gram Nash, Dolly Parton, Aimee Mann, Trent Reznor, James Taylor, Bad Religion, and Every Time I Die.
Price made a noteworthy reference to the kind of monetary value that Audiam contains. He reported that the company had collected appoximately $150,000 in revenue in just the last month from clients such as Grizzly Bear, Magnetic Fields, Pretty Lights, and Jason Mraz. “These are fairly small catalogs relative to what is out there in the world, so you look at that one hundred fifty thousand dollars and you think, what else is out there?” says Price.
Chad Smith of The Red Hot Chili Peppers explained to Billboard that around the time of the last NFL Super Bowl, the group had started creating a new album which would follow-up the 2011 release, I’m With You. Lars Ulrich also mentioned that Metallica was getting ready to enter the recording studio in the middle of September to record a follow up album to the 2008 release of Death Magnetic. Both of these new releases will inevitably be distributed through the new contracts with Audiam. For more information regarding Audiam, or any of their roster, check them out here.