Sony Pays $8 Million to Settle with Allman Brothers, Cheap Trick

Most indie labels already split all revenues (and release expenses) 50/50 with their artists. This moves the Sony's royalty payment regimen a small step closer to fair, at least for the biggest artists.

Sony has paid a $8 million settlement to a group of musicians including Cheap Trick, the Allman Brothers Band and the Youngbloods, ending a five-year dispute over digital music revenue. A filing by the attorney in the class action suit on Wednesday reveals that the company will pay its artists a total of $7.95 million to resolve claims in the case, and the musicians will see a 3 percent bump in their royalty rates with respect to digital income.
Most of the money  in the settlement will go to artists who have sold at least 28,500 total downloads in Apple's iTunes store, though a small fraction of the cash has been set aside for artists who have not sold well in the format. $2.5 million from the settlement will cover legal fees. 

Read more here and see a kickass photo of Robin Zander.

via @robertloerzel