Re:Sound seeks to double CBC radio royalties to $3M a year

An organization representing sound recording rights holders wants to more-than double the royalties it bills CBC/Radio-Canada to play music on traditional radio -- to the tune of $3 million per year. Re:Sound is proposing to increase the tariff on music played by CBC radio -- not including digital or internet channels, unless simultaneously broadcast (simulcast) -- to $250,000 a month, according to this weekend’s Canada Gazette. That’s up from $111,652.91 that CBC currently pays under tariff 1.C., governing over-the-air radio broadcasts and simulcasts, that the board set for 2006 to 2011, Re:Sound spokeswoman Michelle Baily said in an email. New tariffs have not been certified by the Copyright Board since. The proposed tariffs would apply to 2020 and 2021. Based on the monthly rates, the math shows Re:Sound is seeking $3 million per year from the CBC in the 1.C. tariff, compared to the roughly $1.3 million a year the public broadcaster currently pays. Re:Sound says it proposes tariffs at the top end because the Copyright Board will not certify a tariff above what it sees from the applicants, so there is no guarantee that the tariff Re:Sound seeks will be the final tariff. The organization says CBC has been paying its current tariffs and has worked with Re:Sound directly. The organization, which deals with sound recordings for artists and record companies and files tariffs every year, says its proposal is based on several factors, including whether the music’s use and value has increased, and inflation since the last certification period. It adds it also uses an assortment of evidence-based data, including economist research. After an application to the Copyright Board is filed, other parties will present their own information to the board either in support or in opposition to the tariff. Then, the parties will try to negotiate a tariff through meetings which, if agreed upon, will be handed to the board. If an agreement can’t be hashed out, then the board will hold a hearing based on the evidence presented to it. The process at the board has been known for some time to take a long time. Conserative MP Dan Albas raised that concern at a House industry committee last year, when he asked the board’s CEO Nathalie Théberge, who was appointed CEO last year, why board tariff decisions can take as long as seven years. She noted that the process can be “stop and go,” where parties will tell the board to hold off on proceedings because there are negotiations. The Liberal government late last year introduced omnibus budget implementation bill, C-86, which in part seeks to speed-up board proceedings. Re:Sound’s application also lays out royalties owed on simulcasts. The organization is proposing CBC each month pay the greater of $37,500 and $0.00126 for each play of a file in Canada by simulcast and to provide ReSound with a report setting out: the number of plays of each file by simulcast, the total number of plays of all files by simulcast and the total simulcast audience compared to its over-the-air broadcast listenership. CBC must also provide a list of all music played during broadcast, including date and time, according to the application. CBC reported declining revenues in its fiscal third quarter compared to the previous year, reflecting a dip of two per cent, or $2.6 million, to $137.3 million. Its expenses in the quarter outpaced its combined revenues and government funding, as it has in the same period the year prior. There are two major organizations that represent artists in the country, Re:Sound and the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), which handles performing and mechanical rights royalties for songwriters, composers, music publishers and visual artists. The two recently formed a joint venture called Entandem, whose stated goal is “simplifying music licensing for hundreds of thousands of organizations across Canada that benefit from music.” They also have been going to court for years to recover royalties they say are due by public establishments who have been playing their music without a license. The Canadian music industry had previously raised concern with what it calls the “value gap,” or the difference between a content’s value and the revenues generated from it. Part of what informs that argument is user-uploaded content, such as music on Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube, which groups such as Music Canada and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artistics (ACTRA) have said are widening that gap because the royalties they pay out are not in line with amount of music consumption they allow. — With reporting by Ahmad Hathout at ahathout@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Re:Sound seeks to double CBC radio royalties to $3M a year

Broadcast | May 14, 2019

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Re:Sound seeks to double CBC radio royalties to $3M a year

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