Copyright Board Boosts Songwriters’ Music Streaming Fees

January 30, 2018

Today is a guest post from Jonathan Bailey at Plagiarism Today regarding the increased music streaming fees by the Copyright Board. Link to full article here. 

First off today, the Associated Press reports that the Copyright Royalty Board has significantly raised the royalties for songwriters and composers when their music is played on interactive streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Previously such interactive streaming services had been paying 10.5% of their revenue to songwriters but the Copyright Royalty Board has raised that to 15.1% by 2022, which represents an over 40% increase.

The royalty rate was not the amount composers had asked for but, considering that music companies were hoping for a reduction in royalties, the hike is seen as a very big win for songwriters. The move is widely expected to have a strong impact on companies like Spotify and Pandora, but will likely not impact more diversified tech companies, such as Apple and Google.

About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and Christian ministries “do music right.”  CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches, as well as representation, administration and advocacy for copyright owners. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only, and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

 

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