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<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has today (July 1) maintained its decision to increase the headline rate paid to songwriters in the United States from streaming services between the years 2018 and 2022.<\/p>\n
To refresh your memory: In January 2018, songwriters enjoyed a major victory<\/a> when the CRB ruled that songwriter\/publisher royalty rates for streaming and other mechanical uses were to rise significantly in the US.<\/p>\n That ruling centered on an increase in the overall percentage of streaming services\u2019 US revenues that legally have to be paid by the likes of Spotify [2,840 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/companies\/spotify\/”>Spotify<\/a> to songwriters.<\/p>\n The CRB decided to move that percentage figure up from 10.5%<\/strong> to 15.1%<\/strong> across the five years between 2018 and 2022. It was the largest rate increase in the history of the CRB.<\/p>\n However, Spotify and other companies, including Amazon [598 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/companies\/amazon\/”>Amazon<\/a> and Google [687 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/companies\/google\/”>Google<\/a>\/Alphabet \u2013 but NOT Apple [964 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/companies\/apple\/”>Apple<\/a> \u2013 subsequently launched a legal appeal against the new rates, arguing that they were unjustified.<\/p>\n Today, the CRB made its final decision \u2013 and the 15.1% rate<\/strong> is going nowhere.<\/p>\n The NMPA (National Music Publisher\u2019s Association) lobbied for the 2018 rate increase and has subsequently fought against the appeal from Spotify et al<\/em>.<\/p>\n David Israelite [90 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/people\/david-israelite\/”>David Israelite<\/a>, the CEO and President of National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) [167 articles]” href=”https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/companies\/national-music-publishers-association-nmpa\/”>the NMPA<\/a>, confirmed in the past hour: \u201cToday the [CRB] reaffirmed the 15.1% headline rate increase we earned four long years [ago], confirming that songwriters need and deserve a significant raise from the digital streaming services who profit from their work.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the headline rate rise, however, there is some mixed news for songwriters.<\/p>\n When the CRB initially ruled on its new streaming rates in 2018, it decreed that streaming services would either have to pay songwriters the headline rate, or \u2013 if it resulted in a higher figure \u2013 the platforms would pay up to 26.2%<\/strong> of their \u201cTotal Content Costs\u201d across records and publishing (see \u2018TCC\u2019 below).<\/p>\n Importantly, the CRB also ruled in 2018 that this \u2018TCC\u2019 figure would be formulated from an \u201cuncapped\u201d amount, meaning the 26.2%<\/strong> could be taken from an unlimited figure (e.g. if a service like Spotify had a monumental year revenue-wise).<\/p>\n Following Spotify et al\u2019s<\/em> appeal, the CRB has now changed its mind, and the TCC is<\/em> being capped, limiting the payout songwriters can potentially get from each streaming service.<\/p>\n Plus, the CRB\u2019s latest definition of streaming bundles \u2013 covering family plans, telco deals, and other discounts \u2013 has reverted to one that is financially advantageous to the streaming services.<\/p>\n All of that being said, the main news tonight is the reaffirmed CRB headline rate of 15.1%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Fact is, that means one thing very clearly:<\/p>\n The streaming services are about to fork over a whole bunch of cash to songwriters to cover the now-officially increased CRB rates for the years 2018-2022.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Digital Media Association (DiMA) is a US trade org that represents each of the music streaming services that appealed against the CRB\u2019s 2018-2022 rate decision.<\/p>\n In reaction to today\u2019s CRB announcement, DiMA President and CEO Garrett Levin said: \u201cThe streaming services thank the Judges for their efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s decision reflects a significant increase in the royalties that will be paid to publishers. The work to give effect to these new rates will soon begin in earnest.<\/p>\n \u201cThe streaming services are committed to working with the MLC and music publishing companies to facilitate the accurate distribution of royalties.\u201d<\/p>\n [A moment of pause, songwriters, for those sweet, sweet words: \u201cToday\u2019s decision reflects a significant increase in the royalties that will be paid to publishers.\u201d<\/em> And now we continue with the rest of Mr Levin\u2019s comments.]<\/p>\n \u201cThis proceeding is also a reminder that ratesettings do not \u2013 and cannot \u2013 take place in a vacuum. Today\u2019s decision comes as the three major label groups \u2013 which operate the world\u2019s three largest music publishers \u2013 continue to earn the lion\u2019s share of the industry profits while reporting consistent double-digit revenue growth as a result of streaming.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking ahead, streaming services believe it\u2019s time for all stakeholders\u2014labels, publishers, writers, artists and the services\u2014to engage in comprehensive discussions to figure out the right royalty-sharing balance going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2018-2022 songwriter rate proceedings were battled out by the NMPA (on the publishers\u2019 side) and the streaming services in a legal showdown known as \u2018CRB III\u2019.<\/p>\n All eyes now turn to \u2018CRB IV\u2019: The yet-to-begin-in-earnest proceedings that will determine what songwriters in the US get paid from streaming services in the years between 2023 and 2027.<\/strong><\/p>\n Added the NMPA\u2019s David Israelite today: \u201cWe will fight to increase the TCC, or percentage of label revenue, which amounts to an insurance policy for songwriters, in the next CRB and will also fight for stronger terms regarding bundles.\u201d<\/p>\n Reacting to the conclusion of the CRB III proceedings, following the streaming services\u2019 appeal, Israelite said: \u201cThis process was protracted and expensive and though we are relieved with the outcome, years of litigation to uphold a rate increase we spent years fighting for is a broken system.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, songwriters and music publishers finally can be made whole and receive the rightful royalty rates from streaming services that they should\u2019ve been paid years ago. We will work to ensure that the services quickly backpay copyright owners as they are required by law.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate Pryor-Cashman\u2019s relentless work to secure this result and the voices of all songwriters and publishers who supported this mission. As an industry, we move forward united as we press for even fairer rates in the next CRB starting this fall.\u201dMusic Business Worldwide<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The saga is over. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has today (July 1) maintained its decision to increase the headline rate paid to songwriters in the United States from streaming services between the years 2018 and 2022. To refresh your memory: In January 2018, songwriters enjoyed a major victory when the CRB ruled that songwriter\/publisher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[119],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business-worldwide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businessnewsbox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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