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MICHAEL HUPPE, 51
President/CEO, SoundExchange
$150 MILLION SETTLEMENT FROM SIRIUSXM: SoundExchange, which collects royalties from programmed digital music services like SiriusXM and Pandora, saw its membership among artists and owners of master recordings jump 20 percent — from 155,000 to 178,000 — in the past year. The nonprofit also won a $150 million settlement involving outstanding claims against SiriusXM, along with a 41 percent royalty rate increase in another action against the satellite broadcaster. With the growth of streaming and foreign revenue, Huppe expects 2018 royalties to top $1 billion — and he continues to call for broadcast radio to pay performance royalties: “The $15 billion terrestrial radio industry pays exactly zero to the performer and the record label,” says Huppe. “We’ll be continuing that battle in 2019.”
MUSIC STORY OF 2018: “The Music Modernization Act’s passage showed what can happen when our entire industry is mobilized around a common interest.”
