“Years of negotiations.” That’s how performing rights organization (PRO) BMI describes its patience and perseverance in royalty dealings with SiriusXM. With patience and perseverance evidently expired, BMI filed a legal action to determine what it calls “fair and appropriate fees.” No public statement by SiriusXM is found at the time of this post.
BMI collects performance royalties on behalf of music creators — the songwriters and composers.
Mike O’Neill, BMI’s President & CEO, said, “After attempting to negotiate with SiriusXM in good faith for more than two years, we were compelled to file this action given their insistence on underpaying the creators of the music that drives the majority of their business.” Along that line, BMI cites four main points:
- BMI’s “preeminent market share”
- Changes in the marketplace (those changes not described in the news brief)
- SiriusXM’s product evolution towards a digital service from its legacy broadcast model
- SiriusXM’s “strong revenue growth.” (See RAIN coverage of Sirius XM’s Q1 financial disclosures, which include $$993M gross profit against $7-billion revenue.)
Mike O’Neill, BMI’s President & CEO, said, “After attempting to negotiate with SiriusXM in good faith for more than two years, we were compelled to file this action given their insistence on underpaying the creators of the music that drives the majority of their business. SiriusXM’s proposal is a clear attempt to rely on a rate that was established when the company was very different in terms of its size, reach, degree of digital focus and revenue growth, and falls well below what is in the best interests of our affiliates. We will continue to fight for fair and appropriate rates when we believe the music created by our songwriters and composers is being significantly undervalued.”
