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BMI confirms record-breaking revenues for last year

By | Published on Friday 11 September 2015

BMI

US performing rights organisation BMI saw its annual revenues top $1 billion for the first time in the financial year ending 30 Jun, with its $1.013 billion of income putting it slightly ahead of rival society ASCAP’s most recent annual haul of $1.001 billion.

The growth is in no small part, of course, because of the shift from physical to digital, and especially from downloads to streams, which means for publishers the so called ‘performing rights’ that BMI and ASCAP handle are becoming more lucrative, as the ‘mechanical rights’ exploited (wholly or primarily) when CDs are pressed and when downloads are sold become less valuable.

Of course, the big publishers in the US are keen to pull digital deal-making out of the collective licensing system, and are hoping that the current Department Of Justice review of the BMI and ASCAP consent decrees – which currently block such a move – will enable them to force Pandora et al into directly negotiated agreements.

It’s not quite clear how that would work exactly, and it may be that – even if the American publishing majors start agreeing terms with digital services directly – the collecting societies would continue to collect and distribute royalties, for both logistical and legal reasons. Though any shift to direct digital licensing could still have an impact on BMI and ASCAP’s future revenues.

But for now, BMI President Mike O’Neill is happy, telling reporters: “These are phenomenal results for BMI and underscore the value we bring to our community of songwriters, composers and publishers. They’re even more impressive when you consider the negative impact to our international revenues brought on by the strengthening dollar”.

He added: “We will continue to work hard on behalf of the more than 700,000 affiliates we have the privilege to represent, not only to make sure they can continue to earn a living doing what they love, but also through our ongoing efforts with Congress and the US Department of Justice to rewrite the rules so they make sense for today’s digital world”.

Hey, hear more about consent decree reform on this week’s CMU Podcast here!



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