Wired
Artists and record labels have reached agreement with Internet radio companies over royalty rates, resolving a dispute that dates back more than two years over how to divvy up revenue from streaming music on the Web. The deal establishes a two-tier royalty payment system for companies — such as the popular service offered by Pandora — that broadcast music over the Internet. The agreement calls for large webcasters to pay artists and copyright owners a percentage of all U.S. revenue up to 25 percent or on a per-song basis, which ever is greater. Smaller webcasters — with revenue of less than $1.25 million — will pay a smaller percentage under a different formula. The agreement was announced Tuesday by SoundExchange, a nonprofit group designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to collect and distribute digital music royalties. The group’s members include large record companies such as Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, as well as more than 2,500 independent labels.