SAG-AFTRA is disappointed with last week’s ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board on webcasting rates.
The union said late Friday night it will continue to advocate for what it considers just compensation for artists.
Pure play (non-broadcast) non-subscription streaming services will see their royalty increase from 14 cents per hundred performances to 17 cents per 100 performances in 2016. However commercial non-subscription services will also be 17 cents per 100 streams. It had been 25 cents per 100 streams.
The new rate for commercial subscription services in 2016 is 22 cents per 100 streams. SoundExchange, which collects and distributed royalty payments, had pushed for 25-29 cents per 100 streams. Wilkinson Barker Knauer’s David Oxenford says this is the first time he can recall the CRB actually dropping music royalty rates.
SAG-AFTRA called the new rates “an unfortunate step backwards that cheats creators.”
The union says the CRB has provided a huge discount to webcasters at artists’ expense — driving down the value of music by 30%.
Many broadcasters’ businesses are built on the use of music and they already pay nothing for it on terrestrial radio, according to SAG-AFTRA. Radio disputes this, saying they already pay royalties and are not compensated for the promotion and value of breaking artists on the air. What the union sees as a “steep discount” for webcasting means “that artists’ income will flat line for the next five years while broadcasters profit at their expense.”
