SoundExchange

MySpace, SoundExchange Team to Source Unpaid Artists

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 25, 2010 - 12:46pm.
Cannes, France - News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace social network has partnered with royalty collection and distribution agency SoundExchange to search for artists who may be owed royalties for their works but could not be located. MySpace said it has already identified 25,000 artists who are registered on MySpace but not with SoundExchange, who are collectively owed more than $14 million in royalties for streaming of their songs on Internet and satellite radio.

ReverbNation Taps SoundExchange for Digital Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 1, 2009 - 12:06pm.
Los Angeles - ReverbNation, an online marketing and promotions platform for musicians and labels, has signed an agreement with SoundExchange, the recording industry entity set up to collect and distribute digital royalties. Under the terms, ReverbNation will encourage its 500,000 member artists to register with SoundExchange, to receive payments when their songs are played on digital radio stations, including Web, satellite and cable TV.

Court: Yahoo's Launchcast Not an 'Interactive' Music Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 21, 2009 - 10:54am.
New York - A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that said Yahoo's (NASD: YHOO) Launchcast is not an "interactive" digital music service, and as such should not be required to pay record labels additional fees to play their songs online, Reuters reported. Yahoo will still pay SoundExchange licensing fees for songs played on its Web radio service, but will not have to negotiate fees with individual labels.

Public Radio Stations, SoundExchange Set Webcast Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 11, 2009 - 11:35am.
Washington - SoundExchange, the recording industry entity set up to collect and distribute digital music royalties, announced on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) on webcasting royalty rates for public radio stations through 2015. Under the deal, CPB will pay SoundExchange a total of $2.4 million for the term 2011-2015, based upon anticipated usage, with additional payments to be made if usage exceeds expectations.

SoundExchange Sets Royalty Deals With Sirius XM, Others

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 3, 2009 - 9:54am.
Washington - SoundExchange, the entity set up by major record labels to collect and distribute digital music royalties, announced late last week that it has reached new agreements with Sirius XM (NASD: SIRI), College Broadcasters Inc., and the National Religious Broadcasters License Music Committee.

SoundExchange Pureplay Webcasters Agreement (PDFs Attached)

Authored by Ned Sherman on July 13, 2009 - 10:59am.
Last week, we reported that SoundExchange, the firm set up by the major record labels to collect and distribute digital royalties, announced that it has agreed on new streaming music royalties for "pureplay" commercial webcasters. For those of you interested in the specifics of the deal, here are "Exhibit A - Agreed Rates and Terms for Commercial Webcasters Including Small Pureplay Webcasters" and "SoundExchange's Letter to the Copyright Office about the Agreement."

Live365 Decries Webcasting Rate Deal; Submits Own Proposal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 9, 2009 - 10:42am.
Foster City, Calif. - Live365, a provider of "microwebcasting" services that power Web radio stations from over 5,000 users, said on Thursday that the royalty rate deal announced this week by SoundExchange will have detrimental effects to its business, and submitted its own rate proposal to the agency.

SoundExchange, Pureplay Webcasters Reach Royalty Deal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 7, 2009 - 9:37am.
Washington - SoundExchange, the firm set up by the major record labels to collect and distribute digital royalties, announced on Monday that it has agreed on new streaming music royalties for "pureplay" commercial webcasters. The "experimental rate agreement" includes revenue sharing for most services, as well as more robust reporting requirements, in exchange for a discount on per stream rates.

Senate Passes Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 18, 2009 - 8:18am.
Washington - The U.S. Senate has passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009, which if signed by President Obama will allow webcasters to continue to negotiate the controversial royalty rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board with rights holders. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.); a companion bill passed in the House earlier this month.

Public Interactive to Send Public Radio Data to SoundExchange

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 4, 2009 - 12:46pm.
Washington - National Public Radio's (NPR) Public Interactive, a unit that serves the online needs of some 325 public radio and television stations, announced on Thursday that it will collect and report public radio music streaming activities to SoundExchange on behalf of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additionally, Public Interactive will report streaming data for NPR and member stations, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters members, American Public Media (APM), the Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and Public Radio International (PRI).

CNET: Webcasters, Music Industry Battling Over Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 23, 2009 - 8:52am.
San Francisco - CNET News.com on Monday published an account of the ongoing negotiations between webcasters and the music industry on royalty rates for streaming music on the Internet.

NAB, SoundExchange Reach Accord on Music Webcast Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2009 - 12:48pm.
Washington - Commercial radio stations represented by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) have reached an agreement on music webcasting royalty rates with SoundExchange, the entity set up by major record labels to collect and distribute digital royalties. Under the new deal, which replaces terms set by the Copyright Royalty Board in 2007 that were near-universally decried by webcasters as too high, royalty rates will be lowered by 16% for 2009 and 2010, before gradually increasing through 2015.

SoundExchange Offers New Royalties Settlement to Webcasters

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 9, 2009 - 1:00pm.
Washington - SoundExchange, the entity set up by the major labels to collect and distribute digital music royalties, has proposed a new settlement offer to smaller webcasters in advance of a Feb. 15 deadline under last year's Webcaster Settlement Act, Billboard reported.

Public Radio, SoundExchange Agree on Webcast Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 15, 2009 - 11:48am.

Washington - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) on Thursday said it has reached an agreement with SoundExchange, an entity set up by record labels to collect and distribute digital royalties, on the rates and terms that public radio stations will pay to stream music online. Under the terms, which cover the period of January 2005 through December 2010, SoundExchange will receive an upfront payment of $1.85 million, in addition to "consolidated usage and playlist reporting from CPB on behalf of the entire public radio system," FMQB.com reports.

tags: Law | Policy | Music | Copyright | NPR | DiMA | SoundExchange | CPB | CRB |

Analysis: Webcaster Settlement Act - What Does It Mean?

Authored by David Oxenford on October 3, 2008 - 7:36am.

Both the House and the Senate have now approved the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, which will become law when it is signed by the President. Just what does this bill do? It does not announce a settlement of the contentious Internet Radio royalty dispute, about which we have extensively written here. It does not change the standard for judging Internet radio royalties, as had been proposed in the Internet Radio Equality Act, introduced last year and now seemingly dead in the waning days of this Congress, and in the Perform Act, about which we wrote here (the IREA and the Perform Act proposed different standards – the first more favorable to webcasters and the second more favorable to SoundExchange).

Senate Passes Webcaster Settlement Act, Sends to President

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 30, 2008 - 12:47pm.

Washington - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved the Webcaster Settlement Act, which passed in the House over the weekend and was introduced to allow webcasters to continue to negotiate new royalty agreements with copyright owners while Congress is busy with the elections. "This legislation will enable the Digital Media Association (DiMA) and our member companies, and all Internet radio services, to continue negotiating royalty rates with SoundExchange for the years 2006-2015. We are very hopeful of reaching agreement soon, and thereby creating long-term stability that will re-energize the Internet radio business," said DiMA executive director Jonathan Potter.

House Passes Webcaster Settlement Act; Senate Vote Expected

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 29, 2008 - 10:03am.

Washington - The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the Webcaster Settlement Act on Saturday, which would allow webcasters and copyright holders to continue to negotiate royalty payments for streaming music online after Congress suspends its routine business after this week for the elections. A Senate vote on the measure is expected today or yet this week.

Pandora CEO: Royalty Rate Hike Could Force Shutdown

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 18, 2008 - 8:49am.

Oakland, Calif. - Streaming Web radio service Pandora, which claims about 1 million daily users, says that the recent doubling of royalty payments it must pay to copyright holders may soon force the company to turn off its streams, co-founder Tim Westergren told the Washington Post. "We're approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision," said Westergren.

Analysis: Does the Copyright Royalty Board Exist?

Authored by David Oxenford on June 3, 2008 - 6:37am.

The appeals of last year's Copyright Royalty Board decision on the royalties paid for the use of sound recordings by Internet radio stations continue on, and one recent filing raises interesting questions of whether or not the CRB was properly appointed. Last week, the Department of Justice, which represents the CRB in defending its decision in the Court of Appeals, filed its brief in opposition to the briefs of the webcasters, which we summarized here. The DOJ brief essentially argued that the webcasters' briefs were insufficient to satisfy the requirement for a successful appeal - that the CRB decision was arbitrary and capricious or otherwise contrary to law.

Analysis: SoundExchange to Audit Last.FM - What is the Value of Music?

Authored by David Oxenford on March 28, 2008 - 6:04am.

Under the compulsory license for the use of sound recordings - the license which allows Internet radio services to use all legally recorded sound recordings by paying a royalty set by the Copyright Royalty Board - the designated collection agency can, once each year, audit a licensee to assess its compliance with the royalty requirements. Under the law, when the collective decides to audit a company, it must notify the Copyright Royalty Board, who then gives public notice of the fact that an audit is to take place. The Copyright Royalty Board has just announced that SoundExchange has decided to audit Last.FM.