National Music Publishers’ Association Strikes Deal with WMG

Warner Music Group and The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) have negotiated a model licensing deal for music videos.

Under the agreement, songwriters and music publishers receive a percentage of the revenue generated from WMG’s music videos in exchange for the use of their musical works in these videos. The deal will be offered to all NMPA members on an opt-in basis through the Harry Fox Agency (HFA).

“Music videos are a growing revenue stream for music creators and agreements such as this are becoming increasingly necessary,” said David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO. “Warner Music Group has a deep understanding of the value that songwriters provide and we are working together to jointly increase the value of music and ensure that all creators are fairly compensated. This is the second such agreement NMPA has reached with a major record label and it is another demonstration of the benefit of a strong business partnership between labels, songwriters and music publishers. We expect more labels to follow suit.”

In June 2012, Universal Music Group (UMG) reached a similar music video licensing agreement with the NMPA, becoming the first major label to make an agreement of this kind.

Additionally, songwriters and publishers who opt into the WMG agreement may receive retroactive payments for past use of musical works in WMG music videos. The agreement also provides songwriters and music publishers with compensation for offerings relating to ringtones, ring back tones and dual disc, multi-session audio and locked content physical products.