Radio/BMI deal under judicial review

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A tentative agreement on rights fees has been forwarded to the Federal Rate Court for approval. If it flies, it will be retroactive to 2010 and run through the end on 2016.


Radio’s rate negotiation organization issued the following release: “Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) have announced an agreement in principle for a new industry wide license, settling a multi-year litigation between the parties. The agreement covers the performance of more than 7.5 million musical works in the BMI repertoire. If approved by the court, the agreement will end a Federal Rate Court litigation over the fees that radio stations pay BMI on behalf of the songwriters and music publishers it represents for the public performance of their works by radio stations. The proposed deal covers January 2010 through December 2016. Details of the agreement have not been released pending review by the Court.”

In June of 2010, RMLC announced that an interim rate had been agreed to with BMI that it said mirrored an ASCAP rate reduction. It noted that the ASCAP agreement called for a 10.8% decrease in rates, and although it did not specify the BMI rate, RMLC noted that it would replace a previously-agreed-to 7% reduction.