Sound Exchange

Who Pays SoundExchange? – 2012 Q3 List

This is one of the questions we get most often from our members and friends: “How do I know which music services pay SoundExchange when they use my tracks?”

So here it is: a list of all the music services who have paid SoundExchange royalties through the last quarter. Keep in mind that being on this list doesn’t mean they’re in compliance with all the terms of SoundExchange’s reporting or payment, or that they’re even eligible to be using the government license – SoundExchange can’t give legal advice, so we’re not in a position to say so either way. Though it may be imperfect, we hope that you’ll find this helpful in determining which services are relying on the statutory license and paying SoundExchange for the use of their sound recordings.

January Reporting Deadline for Digital Service Providers

Don’t forget the deadline for submitting your first forms and payments for 2013 is January 31. This includes 2013 minimum fee payments (and, if needed, reporting waiver payments) and corresponding minimum fee Statement of Account forms to SoundExchange.

Satellite Radio Rates Increase

We are encouraged that the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has increased the rates to be paid by SiriusXM for the contributions of recording artists and record labels to the success of its service.  Specifically, the initial determination sets rates at 9 percent in the first year, rising to 11 percent in the final year.

While we support the upward trend that this case demonstrates, the rates for the next term represent a below-market outcome. This is due in no small part to the CRB’s application of a special rate standard that permits below market rates for SiriusXM. We believe that all radio services should pay a fair market rate for their use of sound recordings.

We will continue to fight for the value of music and protect the rights of creators. Meanwhile, we are reviewing the lengthy opinion in greater detail, and have no comment on our plans moving forward at this time.

SoundExchange Testifying on Music Licensing Issue

As you may know, a bill is circulating in Congress called the “Internet Radio Fairness Act” (H.R. 6480/S. 3609). We strongly believe that this bill would be anything but fair – particularly for tens of thousands of recording artists and record labels that we represent.

Election Results Playlist

We asked our Twitter followers and Facebook fans the following question post the 2012 Presidential Election results on Wednesday, November 7: “If you had to choose a song that best described your reaction to last night’s election results, what would it be?”

As we head into the weekend, give a listen to some of the answers submitted by our loyal fans. Below is our #resultsplaylist

Pandora Artist Payments: A View from The Artist’s Side

SoundExchange has received quite a few questions relating to Pandora’s recent blog post, “Pandora and Artist Payments.” The post seems to convey the impression that artists are raking in millions of dollars from their Pandora streams. While we wish this were the case, these numbers do not reflect the reality for most artists represented by SoundExchange. Although in 2011 we paid out more than $292 million in digital royalties to recording artists and record labels, approximately 90 percent of annual payments to artists were $5,000 or less. In other words, not only are multiplatinum artists paid by SoundExchange, but also those “working class” musicians that very much rely on digital radio as a growing revenue stream. In fact, these working artists represent the vast majority of our artist payments.

Internet Radio Fairness Act: Not So Fair

You may have recently received an email from Pandora and other broadcasters regarding the so-called “Internet Radio Fairness Act,” introduced by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT. We wanted to give you a little more information about what this bill really means. 

Digital Radio Continues Growth

When a service decides to use the statutory license that we administer, it must first file a “Notice of Use” with the Copyright Office. One of the signs of the growth in this space is that services file Notices of Use when they plan to launch service. In just the last few months, the following services have told the Copyright Office that they intend to rely on the statutory license:

Performance Rights and Digital Royalties Heat Up in Congress

Two bills are gathering attention on Capitol Hill and in the press surrounding “performance royalties,” the payments radio companies make to artists and music creators in exchange for broadcasting their songs.

Internet radio proponents are pushing the “Fair Internet Radio Royalties Act of 2012” draft legislation sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). The bill claims to erase differences in the calculation of payments from various digital music services to performers and music creators. To do so, the legislation would reduce royalty rates for Internet radio stations to the so-called 801(b) standard, which is currently being used by only a handful of companies such as satellite radio services and certain cable music services that were grandfathered into this lower standard. In reality, the bill could drastically slash digital performance royalties to artists, labels and everyone else in the creative community participating in the digital performance revenue stream.

Q3Y12 Webinar for Service Providers

On July 17 we held our latest artist webinar. Below is the video in case you missed it. The answered questions are posted below the video.