SiriusXM CEO Mel Karmazin says he wants to negotiate directly with record labels and not have to go through SoundExchange. In a New York Times piece Karmazin is quoted saying ?We think rights holders should benefit from a more competitive and open environment created by inviting individual labels to set their own value on their content rather than having to follow the industry collective. We are giving rights holders a choice and, if they are not interested, we will continue to work with them through SoundExchange.? SiriusXM pays about $150 million in rights fees, over 7% of its gross revenue.
The Times says SoundExchange paid artists and labels almost $250 million in royalties last year. However, the paper says, it held $154 million that it had called ?unpayable,? including $66 million for bad or missing data and $43 million for artists who had not filed paperwork. "The organization, which last year charged a 6.7 percent administrative fee effectively paid by artists and record labels, has also had difficulty getting artists to sign up to receive royalties. A spokeswoman said it has lists of ?tens of thousands of artists? who are owed money."
Read the New York Times piece HERE
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