SoundExchange, a nonprofit group that processes payments for online streams, reports it has now paid over $1 billion to artists and record companies since 2000.
Although SoundExchange represents a relatively small stream of revenue for most record companies, it is increasingly making an impact.
“The way the industry is going, it is about multiple revenue streams, not just one,” explains SoundExchange president Michael Huppe, adding that digital music streams can help record companies remain profitable as traditional sales decline.
“SoundExchange collects money from Sirius XM Radio, Pandora and other forms of Internet radio,” reports The New York Times. “For most labels and performing artists, this is the only money their recordings earn for radio play, since terrestrial radio pays only songwriters and music publishers. (‘On-demand’ digital services like Spotify and Rhapsody, which let users choose exactly what songs to listen to, generally pay record companies directly.)”
SoundExchange paid out only $15.6 million in 2004, but already reports payments of over $100 million for this year.
However, some Internet radio companies are not pleased. Sirius, for example, sued SoundExchange over the right to make direct deals with record companies for recording performance royalties. Last year, Sirius paid a total of $200 million in royalties.
SoundExchange, a nonprofit group that processes payments for online streams, reports it has now paid over $1 billion to artists and record companies since 2000.
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