At a Nashville town hall for members of the music community held at Belmont University 8/3020, RIAA’s Mitch Bainwol made remarks about revenues that will be coming to the industry, in response to a question about PRA. According to RIAA, his mention of a ten-year goal of a $2B annual take did not figure in radio royalty payments at all, and instead was an estimate of the value of licensing music listening over all kinds of access models excluding terrestrial radio.
According to RIAA VP/Communications Cara Duckworth, Bainwol was “referencing licensing revenue generated by digital radio services like satellite and webcasting, and streaming services like YouTube.” And it was simply a rough estimate, and did not have anything to do with potential royalties collected following any congressional action on the Performance Rights Act.
Bainwol also remarked that the future was going to be digital, and the industry has to be learn to take advantage of new access models.
The meeting focused mainly on piracy issues, and was attended by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN).
