April 10, 2007
Extension to Provide Increases in Royalty Revenues for BMI Songwriters, Publishers; Guaranteed Fees for Radio Broadcasters
Press Release
New York, NY – April 10, 2007—Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) today announced a three-year term extension to the previous ten-year performing right agreement for commercial radio stations. The three-year period covered by the agreement is retroactive to January 1, 2007.
The agreement has been submitted to Judge Louis J. Stanton in the Federal District Court of New York. It is expected that Judge Stanton will sign an Order on May 18 finalizing the agreement.
BMI President & CEO Del Bryant said. “This three-year extension extends and expands our relationship with the radio industry in a mutually favorable manner. The new agreement offers the benefits of stability, simplified administration, and consistent fee levels to BMI and radio stations alike.”
Fees for the period 2007 – 2009 will continue to be calculated on the basis of the formula developed by the RMLC under the prior ten-year agreement. The extension includes provisions for per program music licensing, and also for high definition simulcasting and multicasting, and streaming over-the-air signals on stations’ Internet web sites.
Keith Meehan, Executive Director of RMLC, said, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with BMI and that our agreements now cover both Internet streaming of station signals as well as covering HD simulcasting. . . .We are also pleased that BMI has agreed in principle to a joint radio music use study with RMLC.”
The Radio Music License Committee is a volunteer organization of broadcasters that for more than 50 years has negotiated music license agreements with performing rights organizations.
Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI) is an American performing right organization that represents more than 300,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music. Celebrating over 65 years in business, BMI represents a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world. The non-profit-making corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners whose works have been performed.
Contact: Jerry Bailey BMI 615-401-2825 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) Hanna Pantle BMI 310-289-6328 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)