Sirius Xm royalties

DISHING OUT A LITTLE MORE: The U.S. Copyright Board has decreed that Sirius XM Radio must pay a bigger slice of its revenue in royalties, Reuters reports. The satellite giant has hitherto forked over 8% (in marked contrast to the much higher amounts paid to SoundExchange by online streaming services such as Pandora and iHeartRadio, as those entities have often pointed out); after the Board's ruling, handed down Friday, Sirius XM will pay 9% in the coming year, 9.5% in 2014, 10% in 2015, 10.5% in 2016 and 11% in 2017 when their current agreement expires. Reuters cites a market analyst's estimate that the satellite-radio firm turned over $250m over the course of this year and will remit $324m over the next. The company's shares rose 6% on Friday, suggesting the rate hikes were lower than expected. (12/17p)