SONY, NMPA, NSAI PACT WITH CRB ON ROYALTIES

Sony Music, The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) have reached a joint agreement with the Copyright Royalty Board resolving issues surrounding rates for mechanical royalties going forward.

The deal follows similar deals NMPA has struck with WMG and UMG.

Lest you start to glaze over once past the “more money” part, we’ll just say that the pact includes a “roll-forward” of rates under a section of the Copyright Act for the period between 2018-22, and covers physical product, digital downloads and ringtones. According to the announcement, Sony will withdraw from “Subparts B&C” of the relevant section, which applies to on-demand streams.

“The parties are pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial settlement in this matter,” reads a joint statement from the parties. “Sony Music and the music publishing community value their relationship, and as the music marketplace continues to evolve it is more important than ever that the music community stands united to demand fair market pay for songwriters and artists from all digital music services. We look forward to working together to pursue that shared objective.”

Speaking of joint agreements, reading about the Copyright Act always makes us want to spark one up.