RMLC Settles Rate Disputes With BMI and ASCAP

Photo Credit: Eric Nopanen

BMI and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) have officially settled their latest terms dispute, with BMI touting its “historic rate increase.” Meanwhile, the RMLC and ASCAP have ended their own licensing showdown as well.

Beginning with the BMI pact, the consent-decree-bound PRO and the radio-licensing representative confirmed an agreement today, thereby finalizing a fee structure retroactive to 2022’s beginning. As many know, the two have locked horns multiple times over the years.

To be sure, it wasn’t until April 2020 that they put to rest a confrontation concerning 2017-21 rates. Early 2022 then brought an interim agreement – before the RMLC, which reps some 10,000 traditional stations, in June of the same year asked the court to weigh in on the 2022-26 period’s rates.

It doesn’t really need saying given that the clash only wrapped today, but there’s been plenty of legal back-and-forth in the interim. Moreover, the involved parties opted against exploring the deal’s details – including the specific fees – in their formal release.

But evidence suggests that the underlying discussions were particularly successful.

After initially seeking clarity on BMI rates for 2022-26, as mentioned, the RMLC actually hammered out a pact running into 2029’s end, a copy of the relevant station-by-station contract shows.

Without digging too far into the terms here – the all-encompassing document covers everything from multifaceted broadcast-time calculations to payment obligations for “jingles” – the agreement will see certain stations pay a blanket fee rate of up to 2.2% of eligible revenue through 2029.

Other stations – programming volume, the use of works in BMI’s repertoire, and more factor in – will be compelled to cough up a per-program revenue base rate of as much as 0.38%, the agreement shows. And in any event, there’s an annual minimum licensing fee of $773 per station, the text indicates.

“BMI sought a rate that reflected our market-leading share of the music performed on radio stations across the country,” weighed in BMI head Mike O’Neill, “and I’m pleased to say we achieved our largest rate increase ever for the radio industry… Negotiation is always better than litigation, and we’re pleased to have worked together with the RMLC to achieve this outcome.”

In remarks of his own, Radio Music License Committee chairman Ed Atsinger added: “We are pleased to have reached an amicable agreement with BMI, which is indicative of how strongly the radio industry values its partnerships with songwriters.

“Furthermore, we feel that this agreement provides the radio industry with the ability to plan for the long-term while avoiding substantial litigation costs and uncertainties associated with the rate court process,” he concluded.

Closing with a quick look at the RMLC-ASCAP settlement, the latter entity confirmed the development in a release this afternoon; last week saw the two jointly dismiss their action.

Though a copy of their contract doesn’t seem to have reached the docket, ASCAP touted the tie-up’s “year-over-year increases in the percentage of revenue rate paid by radio stations.”