Overall, it was a slow news week as the music industry settled into the post-holiday doldrums. But plenty of "year ahead" forecasts filled the gap as the business prepares to tackle the big issues on the roadmap...

$500M-BACKED OLE ACQUIRES 3,000 SONGS IN RED VINYL MUSIC BUYOUT (Music Business Worldwide)
The independent songwriters of Red Vinyl Music have had over 100 commercially released songs, including those recorded by artists Taylor Swift, Lee Brice, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Jake Owen, and Craig Morgan, among many others.

More Industries Invest in Blockchain Technology (eMarketer)
The "blockchain," an emerging form of distributed database first implemented by the digital currency Bitcoin, is gaining wider acceptance and interest in a variety of industries.

5 Issues That Grammy Voters Need To Know (And What to Do About Them) (Billboard)
“The next two years could be the most important years of the coming decade in terms of how creators get paid,” says Daryl Friedman, chief advocacy and industry relations officer for The Recording Academy.

The Legal & Legislative Landscape Affecting Royalties in 2017 (Royalty Exchange)
The outcome of several legal and legislative battles currently underway will do much to define what this future landscape looks like. Here is an overview of the more potentially impactful issues to watch and what it means for music royalties.

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