BMI Royalties Reach All-Time High

BMI today (Sept. 18) reported that it had achieved the highest revenues and royalty distributions in its 75-year history for its fiscal year ended June 30. BMI generated revenues of $977 million, and distributed and administered more than $840 million to its songwriters, composers and music publishers.

For the 2013 fiscal year, BMI reported revenues exceeding $944 million and royalty distributions of $814 million.

This year, the largest category of the company’s domestic revenue was delivered by cable and satellite distributed entertainment. Licensing income from digital services, international sources and from businesses such as bars, hotels, fitness facilities and restaurants all posted significant gains.

BMI singer/songwriters including Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, Shakira, Miranda Lambert, P!nk and Nicki Minaj contributed some of the most-performed songs of the year. Income was received from the mega-smash “Let It Go,” by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, from the highest-grossing animated film of all time, Disney’s Frozen. Also adding to the tally were Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers, Kacey Musgraves, Imagine Dragons, and film and television composers James Newton Howard, Steve Jablonsky, Mark Mothersbaugh, Brian Tyler, and John Williams.

This year’s results cap a ten-year period during which BMI has generated more than $8 billion in revenues and distributed royalties of more than $7.5 billion. BMI operates on a non-profit-making basis and returns more than 85% of all revenue to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.

BMI Pres. and CEO Michael O’Neill said, “We are extremely pleased with these results and are already hard at work trying to better them this year. BMI has a well-earned reputation as a trusted broker between the creative community and businesses that perform music to enhance their customer experience. In an ever-evolving marketplace for music rights, our leadership, operational expertise and ability to deliver value at so many different levels to our songwriters, composers, publishers and licensees, enables us to maximize royalties for the creative community.”