There’s much mudslinging and overly biased language flowing to the media from Irving Azoff’s Global Music Rights. There’s also some choice words, and accusatory statements, flowing from the Radio Music License Committee. It’s all over royalty payments, and GMR’s antitrust lawsuit filed in California by the RMLC.
Are both sides victors in a Thursday ruling?
It depends who’s talking.
In an announcement akin to a Granma report on U.S.-Cuba relations, GMR said Judge Terry Hatter Jr. of the Central District of California “dealt a significant defeat” to the alliance of radio broadcasting companies known as the RMLC, “denying its attempts” to dismiss the lawsuit.
As GMR sees it, Thursday’s ruling “clears the way for GMR to challenge the cartel power which the RMLC has exerted over songwriters for decades.”
GMR also notes that, “In an additional blow to the RMLC, the same judge denied the RMLC’s right to seek monetary damages from GMR, drastically limiting RMLC’s remedies against GMR.” This came in a separate ruling from Judge Hatter.
However, what GMR’s public relations veteran Larry Solters didn’t mention is that, should RMLC be able to prove the facts it is alleging, then GMR is the entity that is “an illegal cartel,” RMLC says.
In a prepared statement, RMLC Executive Director Bill Velez said, “We were pleased but not surprised by the court’s important ruling. GMR is worse than the other PROs. Its only purpose is to charge more for what could previously be bought for less. The court rightly recognized that there is no excuse for that conduct under the antitrust laws.”
He added that the court “denied every single argument GMR made on the merits of its case, and left RMLC with a clear path to reaching a final verdict in our favor.”
So, what’s the verdict on what transpired?
It’s simple: the RMLC’s request to have the lawsuit tossed was rejected. However, they will get their day in court — and could ultimately be victorious, minus a big financial windfall from monetary damages.
Founded in 2013, GMR describes itself as “the newest and most innovative player in the stagnant industry of performance rights licensing” by taking “a fresh approach to licensing the performances of songs written by a small roster of popular songwriters, such as Drake, Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, the Eagles, and Smokey Robinson.”
It is perhaps the airplay of Bruno Mars records that, today, is most impacted by GMR, given his multi-format popularity across the U.S. — in particular in Hawaii, where SummitMedia, iHeartMedia and Pacific Media Group are the main radio broadcasting companies.
While most radio broadcasting companies will likely assert that they pay their fair share of royalty payments and that, without radio, an artist’s ability to become financially successful is limited, GMR feels otherwise.
“The work of these artists drives radio stations’ revenue and profit, but due to decades of artificial price suppression by the RMLC cartel, songwriters receive just a tiny slice of the revenue they create for radio stations,” it claims.
Which side is correct could largely depend on Judge Hatter.
