The Copyright Royalty Board judges have set the new royalty rates and terms for Sirius XM. The company will pay 15.5% of gross revenues for the period of January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022. That’s a 40% increase from the 11% share Sirius XM has been paying for royalties.
Sirius XM stock dropped following the news. The satellite radio company began the day at about $5.70 per share, and at this writing is hovering around $5.30.
SoundExchange, which collects and distributes the royalty payments from the music providers covered under this ruling, issued a statement about the CRB decision. “We thank the CRB for its work and appreciate their consideration of the case we laid out,” SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe said. “SoundExchange is dedicated to our mission of ensuring that creators are properly recognized and compensated for the use of their work. And while the Copyright Royalty Board did not adopt the rates we proposed for Sirius XM, its ruling demonstrates an important step in the right direction toward valuing the contributions of the music creators represented by SoundExchange.”