After more than two years of negotiating, the Radio Music Licensing Committee is apparently sticking to its guns with trying to lower the royalty rate it pays BMI for the 2017-2012 period.
On Thursday night (May 17), RMLC filed to the BMI Rate Court in U.S. Federal Court in the Southern District of New York. Nearly 17 months earlier in early January 2017, BMI went to rate court asking it to set an interim rate because of seemingly stalled negotiations back then.
“BMI has spent more than two years attempting to negotiate a new rate with the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) that fairly and accurately reflects the scope and quality of the music we represent,” BMI executive VP of licensing & creative Mike Steinberg said in a statement. “As anticipated, the RMLC is trying to use a below-market rate they negotiated with the only U.S. PRO they were able to come to an agreement with; an agreement based on flawed market share data and one that has since been made irrelevant by newly-agreed to and adjudicated rates in the marketplace. We look forward to presenting our position before the Court and demonstrating the dominance of BMI’s repertoire.”