BMI Announces Record-Breaking Revenue and Royalty Distributions

Company Distributes All-Time High of $1.471 Billion to Songwriters, Composers & Publishers, $136 Million More than Last Year and Grows Revenue to $1.573 Billion

Posted in News on September 13, 2022

BMI reported record-setting revenue and royalty distributions for its fiscal year that ended June 30, 2022. The Company announced it has distributed and administered an unprecedented $1.471 billion to its songwriters, composers and publishers, its highest distribution ever, up $136 million or 10% over last year. In addition, BMI once again set revenue records with $1.573 billion, a $212 million or 16% increase compared to last year. For the seventh consecutive year, BMI’s results represent the highest reported public performance revenue and royalty distributions of any music rights organization in the world.

The percentage differential between revenue growth and royalty distribution growth is simply timing due to the way BMI is required to account for revenue under the ASC606 accounting guidance adopted last year.  Revenue is recorded in the period the performance occurs, however, the related distributions are in a subsequent fiscal year.

“We had an exceptionally strong year thanks to the incredible popularity of the BMI repertoire, allowing us to deliver the highest royalty distributions in BMI’s history,” said Mike O’Neill, President & CEO, BMI. “Providing this financial stability to our outstanding creative community is a gratifying culmination of BMI’s efforts every day on behalf of our songwriters, composers and publishers. Moving forward, we will continue to maximize the value of our affiliates’ music and ensure that our company is well positioned to deliver growth for our creators and copyright owners well into the future.”

BMI’s total distributions of $1.471 billion include domestic and international royalties as well as distributions from direct deals between BMI publishers and digital service providers that BMI administers on their behalf. Those direct deals, which make up approximately 3% of BMI’s overall distribution, totaled $49 million, or $36 million less than the previous year. That number is lower because certain licensing partners have decided to forego direct deals and have come back to BMI to handle their licensing needs.

Revenue from digital sources represented 48% of BMI’s domestic total with $572 million, an increase of $149 million, or 35%, compared to last year. Growth was seen across all digital sectors, with notable increases in subscription video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Disney+, AppleTV+ and Peacock. BMI also executed new digital audiovisual agreements with Roku, Vudu, Equinox+ and Snapchat, among others.

Total domestic media licensing revenue, comprised of cable & satellite, broadcast television and radio, came in at $479 million, an increase of $7 million, or 2%, over last year. Of this, cable and satellite-derived revenue totaled $270.3 million, holding steady with last year. Radio revenues totaled $114.2 million, an increase of 6%. Broadcast television revenue came in at $94.3 million, in line with last year’s totals.

General Licensing, along with other income, was up 10% year-to-year with $140 million. This total is approaching pre-pandemic revenue levels as businesses across all categories continue to experience strong recovery. Driven by the strength of the BMI repertoire overseas, the Company’s international revenue grew to $382 million, up $43 million, or 13%, over last year. This figure is especially notable given the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar.

Over 100,000 new songwriters, composers and publishers joined BMI this year, bringing the Company’s affiliate membership to more than 1.3 million. Exciting new signings included Griff, Karol G, Kid Culture, The Kid LAROI, and Troye Sivan, to name a few, while agreements were extended with Anuel AA, A$AP Ferg, J Balvin, Metro Boomin, Doja Cat, Ramin Djawadi,
Eminem, Omer Fedi, Tony Morales, Willie Nelson, Thomas Newman, Tayla Parx, Michael Pollack, Sting and Brian Tyler, among many others. 

This year, BMI processed approximately 2.23 trillion performances, up 13% over last year. Of that total, 2.21 trillion were digital performances, and over 260 billion of those were digital audio-visual performances, a 7% increase over last year highlighting the continued growth of this sector. BMI’s number of licensed musical works grew by 10% this year, bringing the total to 20.6 million.

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