Music publishers and major streaming services have reached an agreement on royalty rates for song owners, effectively avoiding another long and complicated legal battle between the parties until at least 2027.
Under the deal, which was announced Wednesday by the National Music Publishers Association, the Nashville International Songwriters Association and the Digital Media Association, the latter represents Amazon Music, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora and Spotify. , music owners in the US. at Get a maximum royalty rate of 15.35%. The new rate, which will be applied gradually over the next five years, represents an increase of 0.25% compared to the previous rate of 15.1%, which was gradually achieved from 2018 to 2022.
Streamers and publishers also agreed to per-subscriber minimums and “total content cost” calculations, which are reflected in the specific fees paid by record labels for streaming music services. The deal also changes the parties’ approach to streaming packages and “innovates how services can provide incentives to attract new subscribers to the music ecosystem,” according to a statement on Wednesday.
The proposal will now be sent to the Copyright Council for consideration.
Instead of going through litigation and continuing years of conflict, we will move forward with cooperation at the highest rates ever guaranteed,” NMPA President and CEO David Israelite said in a statement. “We thank digital services for coming to the table and creators as business partners.”
Streamers like Spotify, Amazon Music and Google’s YouTube recently fought a legal battle with music publishers over royalty fees between 2018 and 2022, when the CRB, a panel of three judges, ruled that digital streamers must pay music owners. 15.1% of its value. income. for royalties. The streamers resisted and initially won an appeal in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, but the CRB eventually overturned its decision to set the royalty rate at 15.1% for 2018-2022.
In the post-trade period for the 2023-2027 rates, the NMPA had previously indicated that it would support a 20% royalty, but music publishers and streamers appear to have settled for a much smaller increase to avoid another legal battle and a freeze. of fees.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
