Phonorecords V has a new bid to pay songwriters $0.0030 per stream. Eminem publisher Eight Mile Style, the Songwriters Guild of America, Word Collections, and Nashville writer George Johnson back the flat fee. Two more creator groups, SCL and MCNA, agree. Bernie Taupin supports it as well. The fee would rise with inflation each year.
The US Copyright Royalty Board has fresh rate plans to review. Its job is to set what music apps pay for song rights in the next five-year term. Each side has sent in its case, with no deal in place. The next phase will let them seek records and facts from each other.
Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Pandora are among the services in the case. Across from them sit the NMPA and Nashville Songwriters Association International. Major record firms, indie group A2IM, and the Music Artists Coalition have a role as well.
The Digital Media Association, or DIMA, speaks for apps such as Tidal, Qobuz, YouTube, and Feed.fm. Its chief, Graham Davies, wants a fast result. The group gave no public rate figure. Instead, it pointed to US music publishing income, which grew by over 30%, from $5.6 billion to $7.3 billion.
Past rate deals help explain the dispute. One board ruling took the main share of streaming revenue from 10.5% to 15.1%. Music apps won an appeal, but the board kept the higher rate after a fresh review. A later deal set a path toward 15.35%, with higher user fee floors and a link to label costs.
Bundles are where things get tense. Music apps can pay less under plans that pair songs with other perks. Spotify used that rule when it gave Premium users 15 hours of audiobook access. Amazon went with a similar setup. The NMPA fears such plans could cut publishing pay by more than $3.1 billion if left as they are.
NMPA officer Danielle Aguirre says Spotify's move has cost music writers and rights firms close to $480 million. She puts the drop in royalty fees from Spotify and Amazon bundles at about 30%. Both sides have shown interest in talks, but Aguirre wants real changes.
The Mechanical Licensing Collective took Spotify to court over its plan. Judge Analisa Torres first ruled for Spotify, then withdrew that result and let the suit go on. She later blocked an early appeal while rejecting one of Spotify's defenses.
The MLC argues that Spotify used its separate Audiobooks Access price to cut the share of Premium revenue tied to music. It claims the book plan itself should pay song fees, since it has music access. NMPA and NSAI want files from that suit for the rate case, but Spotify objects.
Physical music, paid song files, and ringtones have a separate rate deal under review. The major labels, A2IM, and some creator groups back keeping the current rules, with annual price hikes for discs and downloads. Several other writers' groups oppose that pact.
The base fee for a song on disc or as a paid download is 13.1 cents, or 2.52 cents per minute if that pays more. Ringtones stay at 24 cents. Major labels and A2IM expect the first fee to reach about 13.7 cents in the next rate term.
Critics say the deal fails to make up for past inflation and gives ringtones no raise. SCL has raised concerns about ties between record labels and music publishers. The board asked the firms for more detail on those links and how they made the pact.
The firms say past inflation claims were dealt with in an earlier round. They also declined to share their deal talks, arguing that the law does not force them to do that. The board has yet to approve the pact.
If the streaming sides fail to agree, a full hearing will follow. A first ruling is due after that. For the music apps and the people who write the songs, the new pay terms remain up for debate.
The US Copyright Royalty Board has fresh rate plans to review. Its job is to set what music apps pay for song rights in the next five-year term. Each side has sent in its case, with no deal in place. The next phase will let them seek records and facts from each other.
Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Pandora are among the services in the case. Across from them sit the NMPA and Nashville Songwriters Association International. Major record firms, indie group A2IM, and the Music Artists Coalition have a role as well.
The Digital Media Association, or DIMA, speaks for apps such as Tidal, Qobuz, YouTube, and Feed.fm. Its chief, Graham Davies, wants a fast result. The group gave no public rate figure. Instead, it pointed to US music publishing income, which grew by over 30%, from $5.6 billion to $7.3 billion.
Past rate deals help explain the dispute. One board ruling took the main share of streaming revenue from 10.5% to 15.1%. Music apps won an appeal, but the board kept the higher rate after a fresh review. A later deal set a path toward 15.35%, with higher user fee floors and a link to label costs.
Bundles are where things get tense. Music apps can pay less under plans that pair songs with other perks. Spotify used that rule when it gave Premium users 15 hours of audiobook access. Amazon went with a similar setup. The NMPA fears such plans could cut publishing pay by more than $3.1 billion if left as they are.
NMPA officer Danielle Aguirre says Spotify's move has cost music writers and rights firms close to $480 million. She puts the drop in royalty fees from Spotify and Amazon bundles at about 30%. Both sides have shown interest in talks, but Aguirre wants real changes.
The Mechanical Licensing Collective took Spotify to court over its plan. Judge Analisa Torres first ruled for Spotify, then withdrew that result and let the suit go on. She later blocked an early appeal while rejecting one of Spotify's defenses.
The MLC argues that Spotify used its separate Audiobooks Access price to cut the share of Premium revenue tied to music. It claims the book plan itself should pay song fees, since it has music access. NMPA and NSAI want files from that suit for the rate case, but Spotify objects.
Physical music, paid song files, and ringtones have a separate rate deal under review. The major labels, A2IM, and some creator groups back keeping the current rules, with annual price hikes for discs and downloads. Several other writers' groups oppose that pact.
The base fee for a song on disc or as a paid download is 13.1 cents, or 2.52 cents per minute if that pays more. Ringtones stay at 24 cents. Major labels and A2IM expect the first fee to reach about 13.7 cents in the next rate term.
Critics say the deal fails to make up for past inflation and gives ringtones no raise. SCL has raised concerns about ties between record labels and music publishers. The board asked the firms for more detail on those links and how they made the pact.
The firms say past inflation claims were dealt with in an earlier round. They also declined to share their deal talks, arguing that the law does not force them to do that. The board has yet to approve the pact.
If the streaming sides fail to agree, a full hearing will follow. A first ruling is due after that. For the music apps and the people who write the songs, the new pay terms remain up for debate.
