SoundExchange, which collects and distributes music streaming royalties, say it’s beginning the “long process” of appealing the Copyright Royalty Board decision on streaming rates.
The new rates kicked in at the beginning of the year and SoundExchange said they were too low.
The appeal window for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals opened in May, reported the Radio & Internet Newsletter, which predicts the paperwork would be filed later this month or in July.
In January, pure play (non-broadcast) non-subscription streaming services saw their royalty increase from 14 cents per hundred performances to the new 17 cent rate.
We reported starting in 2016, the new rate for commercial non-subscription services 17 cents per 100 streams. It had been 25 cents per 100 streams.
The new rate for commercial subscription services in 2016 is $0.0022. SoundExchange, which collects and distributed royalty payments, had pushed for 25-29 cents per 100 streams.
On its Website SoundExchange said the new rates “do not reflect a fair market price for music and will erode the value of music in our economy.”
RBR+TVBR observation: If SoundExchange prevails and gets the rates increased, that wouldn’t be good for either broadcast radio or Pandora. Smaller market stations have said streaming rates are preventing them from streaming while Pandora has moved forward with its business plan for a new on-demand service based on the new rates. Executives have been saying the CRB decision gave them streaming rate certainty they hadn’t had before.
