Sony/ATV Music Publishing has agreed to return licensing and royalty distribution authority to Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for all categories of public performance uses. Consistent with a recent Federal Court ruling, the new agreement will leave current licenses and the flow of royalties to songwriters and publishers from hundreds of thousands of licensees undisturbed. The announcement was made today by Martin Bandier, Chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the world’s largest music publishing entity, and Michael O’Neill, CEO of bmi.
This new agreement provides stability to the music publishing copyright marketplace while affording an opportunity for bmi and music publishers to seek regulatory and legislative change to protect the value of copyright for songwriters, composers and music publishers alike.
“Sony/ATV is proud to renew our relationship with BMI, which will continue to license the world’s largest and most relevant music catalog to the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on music to drive their profits,” said Bandier. “In the current digital environment, it is critical that we reform the current system which does not fairly compensate songwriters and composers. bmi is an important player in this fight.”
“We appreciate the vote of confidence from Sony/ATV and the faith our writers and composers place in us every day as their trusted broker,” said O’Neill. “It is our privilege to represent the incredible writers and musical works in the Sony/ATV repertoire. We are dedicated to the mission to fairly value the rights of publishers and songwriters in today’s market.”
bmi is currently litigating streaming music license fee rates with Pandora. In addition to that suit, bmi has worked with songwriter and music publisher groups to fight for a level economic playing field across the music industry. As part of this effort, BMI, songwriters and music publishers are seeking a marketplace-driven environment to set fees for mechanical and public performance rights.