why not in the birthplace of this music

[TheBigA]

But they had to follow the frequency-of-play rules you listed above with regard to Rush's Atlantic material, whereas they had the freedom to play as many Mercury-era tracks in a row as they wished.

My guess about that is that the labels have a certain number of waivers they can use at a time. I believe they also have to be renewed regularly (maybe weekly). Since this tribute channel was for a month, perhaps that was more than someone was willing to approve.

 

[CTListener]

My guess about that is that the labels have a certain number of waivers they can use at a time. I believe they also have to be renewed regularly (maybe weekly). Since this tribute channel was for a month, perhaps that was more than someone was willing to approve.

A full month of Rush because one member died seemed way too much. Aretha Franklin died: one week. David Bowie died: one week. I can't see the labels objecting to those tributes at all; if anything, they should welcome them because they might drive downloads and album sales. But the renewed interest in stars of the past always fades after a week or less, so what was the point of the drawn-out Peart/Rush tribute unless Rush's management was peeling off the big bills and buying up the air time?

 

[JBraddock]

A full month of Rush because one member died seemed way too much. Aretha Franklin died: one week. David Bowie died: one week. I can't see the labels objecting to those tributes at all; if anything, they should welcome them because they might drive downloads and album sales. But the renewed interest in stars of the past always fades after a week or less, so what was the point of the drawn-out Peart/Rush tribute unless Rush's management was peeling off the big bills and buying up the air time?

Listener demand. The Rush tribute started on the Deep Tracks channel on January 12th; some listeners complained and were assured it was a temporary tribute that would last a few days. But the positive response far outweighed the negative and SXM kept moving the end date out.

SXM finally moved the tribute to a streaming-only channel on January 23rd and kept it there for almost another 3 weeks.

As to the DMCA rules, streamers (and satellite) have to follow them unless they make a separate agreement with the artist, usually via the artist's recording company. Apparently SXM had an agreement with Universal Music Group regarding Rush, but not Warner Music Group.