U.K. Shops Fees Rise to Play Music

From Richard Tyler, Telegraph:

Shop owners face inflation-busting rises in the cost of playing music to entice customers into their stores from Tuesday.

The smallest shops - those up to 100 sq m - will see the royalty payments they have to make each year to play background music increase by 13pc. Those with larger premises face slightly smaller rises, with, for example, a 1,001 sq m shop now paying £495.50 a year to play CDs or the radio, up 6pc.

The Performing Right Society, which represents over 50,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers, said that increased shop opening hours and the growing the importance of music "in creating a brand and attracting customers" justified the price rises. It said it also planned to review the tariffs charged to other workplaces, like offices, pubs and restaurants.

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New Satellite Royalty Rates Fail to Reflect Full Value of Music

From Broadcast Newsroom:

While Dramatically Increasing Royalty Rate for Music on Satellite Radio, Copyright Royalty Board Still Sets Rates Below True Value

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SoundExchange today expressed mixed reaction to the royalty rates announced by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to be paid by satellite radio operators, XM and Sirius, to the artists and record labels whose music is the core of the satellite radio business. The decision dramatically increased the royalty rate paid by XM and Sirius, thereby validating the overwhelming evidence presented by SoundExchange regarding the critical importance of music to satellite programming.

The CRB also rejected virtually all of the evidence submitted by XM and Sirius. However, the congressionally-mandated standards that the CRB followed ultimately led it to set rates at half the value it determined artists and record labels would have received in the marketplace. "This result once again highlights the inequity of a rate standard that forces creators of music to subsidize certain music services with below market rates," said John Simson, Executive Director, SoundExchange, a non-profit organization that collects and distributes royalties from various digital music services on behalf of artists and record labels. "We are glad that the decision affirmed the importance of music to XM and Sirius, but disappointed that the rate standard led to a lack of full and fair compensation because of the business circumstances created by XM and Sirius," added Simson.

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Senator Hatch: "I would have more if it weren’t for piracy"

Hey, wasn't Senator Hatch supporting Napster way back in 2000? Oh, that's right, he changed his mind once his chief counsel was hired to lobby for them.

From Matthew Hay Brown, The Swamp:

Lyle Lovett and Alice Peacock came to Capitol Hill today to ask lawmakers to make radio stations pay recording artists when they broadcast their music. But they weren’t the only singer-songwriters at the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a former chairman of the panel, seized the opportunity to remind the audience of his own musical career. The Utah Republican, who has recorded several CDs of inspirational and patriotic music, reminisced about receiving his first royalty check, and spoke of his gold and platinum records.

“I’ve been told I would have more if it weren’t for piracy,” he said, before Sen. Arlen Specter steered the hearing back to the issue at hand.

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Lovett Will Go To Bat For Royalty

From Brooks Boliek, Hollywood Reporter:

WASHINGTON -- Four-time Grammy winner and Texas icon Lyle Lovett is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as the music industry continues its push for a royalty for over-the-air broadcasts.

Lovett, whose sound crosses over traditional music barriers, is expected to testify in support of the royalty for the MusicFirst (Fairness in Radio Starting Today) Coalition that is comprised of artists groups including the American Federation of Musicians, the RIAA, SoundExchange, the Recording Artists Coalition and the American Association of Independent Music.

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