"Radio stations will pay lower fees through 2010 to recording artists and labels for streaming music on the Internet under an agreement with the organization that collects royalties. The deal between SoundExchange and the National Association of Broadcasters, announced yesterday, replaces government-set rates called too high by providers of music over the Internet. The agreement with broadcasters sets rates through 2015 for local radio stations that provide simultaneous broadcasts over the Internet or that create new stand-alone Internet stations, according a statement released by the two groups yesterday. Rates are being reduced in 2009 and 2010 by about 16 percent, then gradually increased to 0.25 cent per streamed sound recording by 2015, the press release said.
Royalties are evenly split between labels and artists, said Ades, the SoundExchange spokesman. The Washington-based group on its Web site says it collects and distributes performance royalties for more than 3,500 labels and more than 31,000 artists. The labels include the four major record companies: Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Corp.’s Sony Music Entertainment Inc., EMI Group Ltd. and Warner Music Group Corp. SoundExchange and public radio stations represented by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Jan. 15 announced an agreement for new rates to supplant those set by the copyright board. That joint press release didn’t offer details."
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