BMI, Radio Industry Reach Settlement

BMI and the RMLC (Radio Music License Committee) have reached an agreement about the fees the U.S. commercial radio industry pays to the performing rights organization in exchange for publicly performing the works in its catalog.

Pending Federal Court approval, the settlement will end over two years of litigation between the parties. ASCAP and the RMLC, which represents a vast majority of the nation’s radio stations, previously reached a similar agreement.

The agreement, covering Jan. 1, 2010 through Dec. 31, 2016, includes a return to a percentage-of-revenue fee structure for stations that pay BMI to perform its more than 7.5 million musical works. It also covers licensing for new media platforms.

Radio stations will receive a $70.5 million credit against 2010-2011 industry payments, meaning many stations will have a BMI credit balance available for the remainder of this year. The impact of this settlement will be reflected immediately with BMI’s June 2012 billing statements.

The agreement includes a 1.7% of gross revenue fee structure (with simplified revenue reporting) for blanket/music format license-reporting stations, less a standard deduction of 12% for revenue derived from terrestrial/analog and HD multicasting broadcasts, and a 25% standard deduction for revenue attributable to new media uses.

News-talk stations will pay a base fee of 0.2958% of gross revenue, less the same standard deductions noted above.