A2IM is pleased to announce to the independent music label community that SoundExchange and pure play Webcasters have reached an agreement regarding performance royalties that will benefit independent labels and artists while also allowing the webcasters that give independents the most airplay and exposure the ability to grow their businesses, in which revenues independents will share. 

A2IM President Rich Bengloff released a statement to the press today on the Pure Play Webcasting Rate Settlement. The statement reads:
 
The A2IM SoundExchange board representatives and the A2IM board of directors applaud the resolution of the webcasting rate issues with the pure play webcasters.
 
The resulting pure play webcasting rates compensate the artists who create the music and the music labels that invest in that music creation on a fair and equitable basis, unlike traditional AM/FM radio which currently pays performers nothing when they play their music. At the same time these rates are also fair to the pure play broadcasters, most of them small businesses like the members of A2IM, allowing them to continue to stream music to listeners and still make a profit. These pure play webcasters are vital to independent artists and labels as they play almost triple the percentage amount of independent music compared to that played by traditional AM/FM radio, in response to the growing consumer demand for independent music. As consumer listening continues to shift to the internet these webcasters will have an ever increasing market share and audience.
 
A2IM would like to thank Congress for enacting the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 that allowed for this, and prior rate settlements, and A2IM would especially like to thank Congressman Howard Berman of California for his work on both sponsoring that legislation and its amendments and for bringing all the parties to this agreement to the negotiating table to get it done. A2IM would also like to thank their fellow SoundExchange board members, artist and label representatives, for working together with the SoundExchange staff to get to this resolution.
 
For all artists and music labels performance income continues to become more important as replacement income for recorded music sales as consumer consumption patterns shift from buying music to listening to music. For independent artists and labels agreements like this settlement ensures independents can continue to reach our growing number of fans and be compensated fairly and on the same basis as all creators, regardless of the size of the artist or music label, so we can continue to create new music.

Official Press Release

Pure Play FAQ


About A2IM:

Launched on July 4th, 2005 to represent the needs of the independent music community, this year A2IM celebrated its fourth anniversary as the sector's pre-eminent advocacy group and trade organization. Currently, the organization counts over 225 music label members and 100 associate members (companies who don't own masters but rely upon, provide services for, or otherwise support Independent music labels).

A2IM is a not-for-profit trade organization serving the Independent music community as a unified voice representing a sector that comprises over 30% of the music industry's market share in the United States (and 38% of SoundScan digital sales). The organization represents the Independents' interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. A2IM is headquartered in New York City.

The organization's board of directors is comprised of the following: Concord Music Group President Glen Barros; Wind-Up Records COO Jim Cooperman; Kill Rock Stars President Portia Sabin; The Beggars Group CEO Lesley Bleakley; Razor Tie Executive Vice President Dan Hoffman; Alligator Records Founder President Bruce Iglauer; Roadrunner Records Executive Vice President Douglas Keogh; Bar/None owner Glenn Morrow; Lookout Records co-owner Molly Neuman.

For more information, or to become a member, please visit http://www.a2im.org/ or contact Jennifer Masset (Director Membership Services, jen@a2im.org) or Jim Mahoney (Vice President, jim@a2im.org) at 212 999 6113.