New Choices to Pay for Webcasts
SoundExchange and a group of Internet "Pureplay" webcasters today agreed upon a new royalty formula to keep the Internet-only radio stations alive on the Net. Pureplay stations are those stations that exist only through Internet music streaming; those that have no terrestrial or sattelite versions,
Authorized by the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, the agreement will have the force of law once it is published in the Federal Register. Webcasters can elect to use this new settlement instead of the 2007 rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. It uses a revenue sharing formula so that the costs of broadcasting are tied to the income generated by the broadcaster.
For this settlement, the agreement affects three rate classes are large pureplay webcasters, small pureplay webcasters (defined as those earning $1.25 million or less in total revenues with a cap on music streamed) and pureplay webcasters that provide bundled, syndicated or subscription services. It does not address the concerns of microwebcasters with revenues below the $1.25 million threshhold.
As presented by SoundExchange "SoundExchange views these newly negotiated rates as an experimental structure intended to provide an innovative approach for a particular genre of webcasters and does not consider these terms indicative of fair market rates. Time will tell if revenue sharing is the right move for both the recording community and webcasters,” added John Simson, Executive Director of SoundExchange.
The settlement provides a floor of $25,000 in royalties, so it applies to companies with significant revenue.
The newest settlement is only one of a myriad of potential licensing schemes available for Internet broadcasters. At the other end of the pay spectrum, non-commercial, tax exempt charities (501(c)(3) organizations), pay only $500 plus a usage fee for programming in excess of 159,140 aggregate tuning hours in any given month.
The settlement remains good news that the Internet tubes will continue to be stuffed with music: at rates webcasters can afford - and hopefully with payments that will reach the artists.
Happy Listening.
Authorized by the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008, the agreement will have the force of law once it is published in the Federal Register. Webcasters can elect to use this new settlement instead of the 2007 rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board. It uses a revenue sharing formula so that the costs of broadcasting are tied to the income generated by the broadcaster.
For this settlement, the agreement affects three rate classes are large pureplay webcasters, small pureplay webcasters (defined as those earning $1.25 million or less in total revenues with a cap on music streamed) and pureplay webcasters that provide bundled, syndicated or subscription services. It does not address the concerns of microwebcasters with revenues below the $1.25 million threshhold.
As presented by SoundExchange "SoundExchange views these newly negotiated rates as an experimental structure intended to provide an innovative approach for a particular genre of webcasters and does not consider these terms indicative of fair market rates. Time will tell if revenue sharing is the right move for both the recording community and webcasters,” added John Simson, Executive Director of SoundExchange.
The settlement provides a floor of $25,000 in royalties, so it applies to companies with significant revenue.
The newest settlement is only one of a myriad of potential licensing schemes available for Internet broadcasters. At the other end of the pay spectrum, non-commercial, tax exempt charities (501(c)(3) organizations), pay only $500 plus a usage fee for programming in excess of 159,140 aggregate tuning hours in any given month.
The settlement remains good news that the Internet tubes will continue to be stuffed with music: at rates webcasters can afford - and hopefully with payments that will reach the artists.
Happy Listening.
