2020年经济学人 美国陷经济寒冬,春天还有多远?(2)

Music rights

音乐版权

Tuning¹ in

收听

The market for song royalties² is a hit for investors³

歌曲版税市场对投资者来说是个大热门

Ben stennis is a country-music songwriter from Nashville who has written hits for performers such as Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean. Earlier this year, as the music industry was stopped in its tracks by the coronavirus, a company called Royalty⁴ Exchange offered him the chance to raise some cash. Since 2016 it has run an online marketplace that brings together musicians who want to sell their work and punters wanting to invest in royalties. Anthony Martini, a partner in Royalty Exchange, says it has 25,000 potential investors on its books, from pension funds to "dentists from Ohio". The rate of investors signing up has doubled this year, compared with 2019.

本·斯坦尼斯是一名来自纳什维尔的乡村音乐作曲家，他曾为蒂姆·麦格劳和杰森·阿尔丁等表演者创作过热门歌曲。今年早些时候，在音乐产业因新冠病毒而停滞不前之时，一家名为“版税交易”的公司向他提供了筹集资金的机会。自2016年以来，该公司运营了一个在线市场，将想要出售自己作品的音乐家和希望投资版税的客户聚集在一起。版税交易合伙人安东尼·马提尼表示，该公司账面上有2.5万名潜在投资者，从养老基金到"俄亥俄州的牙医"。与2019年相比，今年的投资者注册率翻了一番。

Music royalties are a complicated business. When a song is recorded, copyrights are created both for the composition of the song and the recording⁵ itself. Each of those rights is then split into mechanical rights (generated when a song is sold in a physical format⁶ or streamed), performance rights (when it is played on the radio or live at a concert) and synchronisation rights (when it appears in a film, television programme or a video game).

音乐版税是一个复杂的行业。当一首歌被录制时，歌曲的创作和录音本身就具有版权。这些版权再下分为机械权（当一首歌以实体形式或流媒体形式出售时产生）、表演权（当一首歌在收音机上播放或者在音乐会现场直播时产生）和同步权（当一首歌出现在电影、电视节目或电子游戏中产生）。

The idea of investing in royalties is not new. In 1985 Michael Jackson forked out $47.5m for the rights to the recordings⁷ of around 250 songs by The Beatles; Taylor Swift is trying to buy the rights to some of her master tapes after her previous record label was sold. But firms like Royalty Exchange are making rights affordable⁸ to a wider pool of investors; some auctions⁹ start with prices in the four figures. (Mr Stennis sold his rights, and paid off his mortgage with the proceeds.)

投资版税的想法并不新鲜。1985年，迈克尔·杰克逊花了4750万美元买下了甲壳虫乐队约250首歌曲的版权；泰勒·斯威夫特在之前的唱片公司被出售后试图购买一些母带的版权。而像“版税交易”这样的公司正在让更多的投资者能够负担得起版权；一些拍卖以四位数的价格开始。（斯坦尼斯卖掉了自己的权利，并用所得偿还了抵押贷款。）

1 tuning   

n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• They are tuning up a plane on the flight line. 他们正在机场的飞机跑道上调试一架飞机。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The orchestra are tuning up. 管弦乐队在定弦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

3 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

4 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

5 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

6 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

7 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句