(Hypebot) — The Songwriters of North America, the Music Artists Coalition, and the Black Music Action Coalition have joined in pushing for a decision on the $700-$800 million in mechanical royalties due songwriters on songs streamed between 2018 and 2022.
In a letter to the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), the coalition is pushing for a quick ruling on the statutory streaming royalty rate so that funds administered by the Music Licensing Collective (MLC) can be released.
So far the CRB has not set a date for a final decision.
The three artist advocacy groups are also calling on songwriters and supporters to take action to ensure that songwriters are paid properly and without more delay:
- Ensure that publishing splits and writer information is accurately submitted, allowing your money to be properly matched and searchable by the Mechanical Licensing Collective.
- Sign a call-to-action letter (full text below) to let the three Copyright Royalty Board judges know how important it is to songwriters that the “Phonorecords III” final decision is issued.
A signature on change.org represents a signature on the letter below:
March 30, 2023
U.S. Copyright Royalty Board
P.O. Box 70977
Washington DC 20024-0977
RE: Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Making and Distributing Phonorecords (Phonorecords III) Docket No. 16-CRB-0003-PR (2018-2022) – Setting the Songwriter Mechanical Royalty Rate
Dear Copyright Royalty Judges:
We write today on behalf of the Songwriters of North America (“SONA”), the Music Artists Coalition (“MAC”), the Black Music Action Coalition (“BMAC”) and all of our members including hundreds of songwriters. SONA is a membership organization founded by a group of songwriters, composers, and music industry professionals determined to advocate for themselves in an increasingly challenging digital economy. MAC is a coalition comprised of artists, songwriters, and their representatives dedicated to protecting and advocating for artist rights without compromise. BMAC is a coalition formed to address systemic racism within the music business, advocating on behalf of Black artists, songwriters, producers, managers, agents, executives, lawyers, and other passionate industry professionals.
We write to you collectively, and with the support of our creative community, to implore you to accelerate finalization of the Copyright Royalty Board (“CRB”) Phonorecords III preliminary decision upholding an increased mechanical rate for all songs streamed between 2018 and 2022 (“Phono III”). Confirmation of this rate is necessary to release hundreds of millions in royalties to its rightful owners, income that is currently being held by the Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”). It would also allow the process of adjusting and truing up past royalty payments made by digital music providers to begin, enabling songwriters and publishers to finally receive the proper royalty amounts owed for the Phono III rate period. This delay in finalizing the mechanical rate has had painful, detrimental effects on the most vulnerable members of the music community – songwriters. These royalties comprise a very meaningful portion of a songwriter’s income and, unlike many other members of the music industry, songwriters don’t receive regular paychecks to fill the void while they wait for mechanical royalty payments.
We appreciate and commend the CRB’s decision to raise the songwriter mechanical royalty rate after the appellate court remanded the proceeding back to the CRB. This was an important step in the right direction; however, the delay in songwriters receiving its benefit is causing financial distress for many of our members. The delay and the uncertainty is very difficult for many songwriters. To the best of our knowledge, Phono III has not moved since July 2022. Many songwriters are struggling to support themselves and their families without this much-needed income. Imagine if other American workers had to wait for this many years to receive their full paychecks.
Setting the rate is not only important to songwriters but is beneficial to all interested parties. The CRB will be able to finalize and close an ongoing remand, the digital music providers will be better situated to make accurate adjustments to the royalty payments for a five-year period, and most notably, publishers and songwriters will finally be able to receive the income that belongs to them for their songs that were streamed from 2018-2022.
We understand and appreciate that this is not the only important or pressing matter before the CRB. However, as songwriters and songwriter advocates, we felt it necessary to impress upon you how important it is for our community to receive these royalties. We ask you respectfully to prioritize the finalization of the mechanical rate for Phono III.
Please help us support songwriters. The time is now.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.
