New Media FAQ

U.S. Copyright Law provides that to "perform" a work "publicly" means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process…(1) at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or (2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public are capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times

A BMI music performance license grants businesses the right to publicly perform BMI affiliated music. With one agreement, BMI provides unlimited access to more than 6.5 million musical works by more than 400,000 BMI-affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers. A web site that publicly performs music can save time and money by signing an agreement with BMI, rather than negotiating individual agreements with each writer and/or music publisher whose music they wish to use. BMI offers flexible licensing options for web sites that take into consideration the diverse and evolving nature of business models on the Internet. On behalf of our affiliated songwriters, composers, and music publishers, BMI licenses all types of business, including web sites, to publicly perform the more than 6.5 million works in the BMI repertoire.

Musical compositions, like other intellectual property, belong to their creators. U.S. Copyright Law grants certain exclusive rights to copyright owners, including the right to publicly perform and the right to authorize others to publicly perform the work. Web Sites that publicly perform music must obtain a license from the copyright owner or their representative. Songwriters and publishers affiliate with a performing rights organization like BMI which, on behalf of these affiliated writers and publishers, provides license agreements for all types of businesses. With more than 400,000, composers and music publishers and a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works, a BMI license is an economical and efficient way to obtain the right to publicly perform BMI music.

BMI music includes some of the most popular and widely played music in the world. More than half of all of the music played on U.S. radio is licensed by BMI. Your BMI license allows you to efficiently and effectively use all of this music for a relatively low fee. Music content is one of the driving forces behind the explosive growth of the Internet. As technological capabilities continue to improve, sound and video are becoming seamlessly integrated with web content. As a result, music can be an integral component of any successful business model in cyberspace. The web will depend on music in much the same way that radio and television rely on music for programming and content. On the web, music can bring even more added value as consumers become more actively involved in the content experience.

BMI serves thousands of customers who use music as an integral part of their businesses. In addition to web sites, our customers include radio stations, local television stations, cable networks and systems, television networks, telephone video-on-demand program packagers, as well as a wide variety of commercial businesses ranging from hotels and restaurants to background music services, nightclubs, shopping malls, photography websites and health clubs. BMI helps its customers efficiently and effectively use the power of BMI music.

BMI licenses a wide range of web sites, including Yahoo!, LIVE 365, Napster, Real Networks, MusicNet, Pandora, Imeem, XM Radio, Batanga, Crosswalk, Brickfish, Project Playlist and many more of the most successful sites on the internet. New customers choose to add BMI music to their web site each day; and turn to BMI to secure the public performance license.

BMI represents more than 6.5 million musical works by more than 400,000 songwriters, composers and publishers from across the musical spectrum. Our catalog includes musical works written by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Dolly Parton, Miles Davis, Babyface, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, Sheryl Crow, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and Elton John just to name a few. BMI songwriters make up 75% of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 82% of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and 90% of the Pioneer Awards for R&B. BMI TV, film, theater and classical composers are equally successful. BMI legends such as Mike Post of "NYPD Blue," fame or Ed Kalehoff, who wrote the opening for "Monday Night Football," Charlie Fox, who penned numerous TV hits, including "Happy Days," and WG Snuffy Walden, whose first big theme was for "ThirtySomething" are a small sample of the composers represented by BMI. BMI also represents the primary composers of many of the top grossing films of all time, including E.T., Jurassic Park, Star Wars, which were scored by John Williams, and "The Lion King," with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice. For a complete of BMI featured musical works, you can refer to the song title database on the homepage of bmi.com.

Your license fees go back to the songwriters, composers and music publishers who create the music you are playing. BMI operates as a not-for-profit organization. All monies received, less operating expenses, are paid to songwriters, composers, and publishers in the form of royalties. Last year more than 87% of every dollar BMI generated was returned to the creative community. Your BMI license fees enable the songwriters whose music you play to keep doing what they do best: writing more music to help make your web site a more frequently visited destination with compelling, interactive and entertaining content.

Many web sites base their business on the use of music, while others offer it as an adjunct or compliment to the rest of the content on their site. BMI offers several licensing options in recognition of the diverse and evolving nature of business on the web. The different rate calculations make sure that a reasonable value is placed on your particular use of music. Internet web sites fall under three main license types: (1) the Standard Web Site Music Performance Agreement; (2) the Corporate Image Web Site Music Performance Agreement; and (3) the Non-Commercial Web Site Music Performance Agreement. (1) The Standard Web Site Music Performance Agreement is generally for commercial entities that generate revenues from the operation of the web site. This license offers the flexibility to choose from two financial calculations to determine your license fee based on the nature of your web site as follows: (A.) The Gross Revenue calculation can be used if you are using music as a primary feature on your web site. (B.) The Music Area Calculation allows you to reduce the revenues subject to fee by factoring the traffic to pages with music in relation to your total web site traffic. You can choose the most economical calculation for your particular web site upon submitting your first financial revenue report, and you can change the calculation under which you file up to four times in a calendar year, depending on which is best suited to your business. If your business model changes and you decide to add more music to your site, you can switch calculations and save money. (2) The Corporate Image Web Site Music Performance Agreement is used If your website's primary function is to promote your business or corporate image, or generates little or no direct attributable revenue from music. The Corporate Image License has a rate based on traffic to pages on your web site. (3) The Non-Commercial Web Site Music Performance Agreement is offered to any Bona fide 501 ( C ) (3) Not-For Profit Organizations, churches, schools or other related charitable organizations to cover the use of BMI music on their web sites. The Non-Commercial Web Site License has a rate based on traffic to pages on your web site.

Gross Revenues include revenues generated from advertising, sponsorship, subscriptions, donations, commissions from third party transactions, the fair market value of goods and services received in lieu of cash consideration (trade and barter), and proprietary software

The revenues that you may generate from the sale of physical pre-recorded music product are not included in Gross Revenues under the Agreement. Commissions received from third party transactions, however, must be reported as Gross Revenues.

We recommend that you test both financial report calculations each time you report in order to determine which method works best for your web site. First calculate what the web site license fee would be at 1.75% of your Total Gross Revenue. Then, calculate the web site Music Area Fee. In order to calculate the Music Area Fee, you must calculate your Music Area Revenue. To calculate your Music Area Revenue, add your Direct Music Area Revenue to the Allocation of Run-Of-Site Revenue. To calculate the Allocation of Run-Of-Site Revenue, multiply your Run-Of-Site Revenue by a fraction the numerator of which is total Music Page Impressions and the denominator of which is total Page Impressions. Your Music Area License Fee will be the greater of (1) Music Area Revenue multiplied by 2.5%; AND (2) Music Page Impressions divided by 1,000 and multiplied by $0.12. After you've made both the Gross Revenue calculation and the Music Area Revenue calculation, compare your license fee under each and file accordingly.

A page impression is a transfer request for a single page. Page impressions sometimes known as page views, not hits are the preferred counting method for site-traffic estimates and measurements. Impressions are the number of times an image is requested by the visitor’s browser

A music page is a web page with any links to audio, or multimedia files, which contain music. It can also be a page that has music playing upon the loading of the page.

A Music Page Impression is a transfer request for a single Music Page.

In order to better meet the needs of the Internet business community and support new and emerging businesses and business models, we have instituted a choice of rates in our licensing models to reflect the diverse nature of the medium. We also strive to encourage the use of BMI music as these new business models emerge. We believe that the web should not be silent. We are committed to making sure that music is a large part of the development and maturation of the internet.

Under the terms of the license agreement you are required to submit separate annual or quarterly financial reports as well as quarterly music use reports.

For each period that you report, you can choose whichever license fee calculation saves you money.

The annual minimum fee for 2009 is $320.00 (with an annual CPI adjustment for subsequent years) depending on your annual Gross Revenues or traffic to your web site, ensures that you are licensed and is applied against any additional fees that are calculated in your report form.

The minimum fee is due upon execution of the agreement, and due by January 31 on a yearly basis thereafter. Financial Reports must be filed either annually or quarterly. Annual Financial Reports are due by March 31st of each calendar year. Quarterly Financial Reports are due at the end of each quarter (i.e. March 31st, June 30th, September 30th, December 31st). When the fee exceeds the annual minimum fee amount already paid for the year being reported, then any additional payments will be due at that time.

The term of this license is the date of execution through Dec. 31st, 2009 and continuing on a year to year basis thereafter. Either party has the option to terminate the agreement at the end of the year, beginning with the end of 2009, upon 60 days prior written notice.

Your BMI license covers BMI music which is made available on a web site either owned, operated or controlled by the licensee and delivered to end users from the URL(s) which are listed on the license. Please remember that this license does not cover the transmission of music made available on a web site not listed under your agreement.

In order to distribute performance royalties to the songwriters and publishers whose music you use, BMI will ask for information pertaining to the performances of music on your site. You will be asked to identify the sound files which are or were available on your site, including the name and contents of those files and to submit statistics that show accesses to files containing music.

Separate financial and music use reports, and separate payments including minimum fee payments, are necessary for each of your web site listed on Exhibit A of your Agreement. Your company only has to sign one Agreement, regardless of how many web sites you own or control unless any of those web sites fall under a different license type. Spaces are provided for each URL in the license agreement and attachments (extensions) will be provided if new sites are added.

Local television stations which have signed new BMI agreements may sign a separate BMI Local Television Station Music Performance Agreement Concerning Internet Website. The Internet agreement enables a station to use limited amounts of BMI music on its internet site provided that the site 's focus is to promote the station and encourage tune-in and viewership of its programming. A site can use up to 30 seconds of any BMI work provided the total BMI music on the site does not exceed 15 minutes of total music (in cumulative timing) on the site at any time. Stations that opt to use more music can sign the Web Site Music Performance Agreement.

Even though there may be many artists represented on your site that are not known to the general public, they may be performing music in the BMI catalogue. There may also be artists that are represented on your site who are BMI affiliated songwriters. Unsigned artists and artists signed to independent labels who write their own songs benefit greatly from the income generated from performance royalties. If your business is deriving revenue from the performance of music, then the songwriters and music publishers should be compensated for their creative contribution to your business.

Songwriters only receive a fraction of their compensation from revenue generated by the sales of the recording, and often split that fraction with co-writers and publishers. Many songwriter’s livelihoods depend on the money they receive from public performance royalties collected by BMI. In fact as much as 75% of a songwriter’s compensation can be from the performance royalty from radio, TV, cable networks and commercial establishments. The greatest hits of the 60s and 70s are still some of today’s most widely played songs. Because of the amount of airplay that occurs over the years, the public performance royalty becomes a critical component of the songwriter’s income. Many talented songwriters depend on the public performance revenues they receive through BMI to make their living.

There is no exemption for 30 seconds of less under U.S. Copyright Law. Record companies may permit such uses by certain businesses for the purpose of promoting album sales. Remember, however, that record companies derive most of their revenue from sales; BMI songwriters and publishers, on the other hand, depend heavily on income from public performance royalties.

In addition to the performing rights organizations that represent the writers and publishers of the musical works that you use on your web site, you may need to contact the record companies and/or the RIAA through their licensing organization the SoundExchange regarding reproduction and/or distribution of their musical works.

If you have a question that you could not locate an answer for please feel free to contact one of our Internet Licensing representatives at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).