Business
Reservoir Commends Landmark Mechanical Streaming Royalty Rates Settlement
The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and Digital Media Association (DiMA) Have Reached a
About this update from Reservoir Media, Inc..
[{"type":"text","content":"The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and Digital Media Association (DiMA) Have Reached a Settlement for Mechanical Streaming Royalty Rates to Increase to 15.35% over the Next Five Years\nNEW YORK, Sept. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reservoir Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSVR) (“Reservoir” or the “Company”), an award-winning independent music company, today commended a landmark settlement reached between the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and Digital Media Association (DiMA) in relation to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) Phonorecords IV proceedings. Digital service providers (DSPs), including Amazon, Apple, Google, Pandora and Spotify, have agreed to incrementally raise the percentage of revenue they pay songwriters and publishers to 15.35% over the next five years, beginning in 2023. The settlement has established the highest mechanical streaming royalty rates in the history of streaming music anywhere in the world. Historically, every five years the CRB sets the mechanical streaming royalty rates to be paid to songwriters and publishers. The NMPA has consistently advocated for the CRB to increase those rates to compensate creators more fairly for their significant contributions to the industry. Since 2019, the songwriting community and its advocates have been mired in ongoing litigation surrounding an appeal by several DSPs against the rates set by the CRB III decision in 2018. However, in July 2022, the appellate decision marked a significant win for music creators, reaffirming the original 2018 decision to incrementally increase rates from 10.5% to 15.1% through 2022. Starting in September 2022, the CRB was set to conduct the next trial, known as CRB IV, aimed at establishing mechanical royalty rates for the five-year term beginning in January 2023. Instead, the settlement avoids a costly trial and establishes a hopeful precedent for future rate setting and further collaboration between rights holders and the DSPs. As the streaming industry continues to grow, the incremental rate ensures that songwriters mutually benefit from the popularity of these platforms. In addition to the increased mechanical streaming royalty rates, the settlement addresses several other terms from CRB IV. Nota...