Being a radio DJ or Station Manager can be a great gig. An enjoyable part of the job involves music -- finding new music, curating your favorite songs, and sharing them with your audience.
The part that’s not enjoyable?
Dealing with royalty payments, and reporting requirements which actually allow you to play all that great music.
If your station isn’t solely a talk or sports station and you intend to play music, you need licensing. Licensing your station with the proper organizations allows you to legally stream music as well as make sure that artists are being compensated for their hard work.
In the internet radio world, there are two types of royalties covering four main music licensing agencies that you need to work with to be compliant with U.S. streaming.
Composition Royalties
Composition royalties cover melodies and lyrics. Think of it like sheet music – the song as it appears on paper. Every time a song is played on your station, these organizations pay the songwriters and publishers.
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.), SESAC, GMR (Global Music Rights), AllTrack, and Word Collections are U.S. public performance organizations that collect royalties and licensing fees any time a musical composition is performed publicly by a business establishment – in our case, internet radio stations. These organizations then take those license fees and pay the appropriate songwriters and publishers.
Sound Recording Royalties
Sound recording licensing covers digital recordings – the music you can actually hear. A sound recording licensing organization will collect royalties each time a song rotates on your station.
SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties for eligible noninteractive digital audio transmissions under the statutory license, like an internet radio station. SoundExchange then distributes these digital performance royalties directly to featured artists and non-featured performer funds, as well as to the sound recording copyright owner (which is usually the record label).
Managing agreements and reporting to all of those agencies can often be confusing, daunting, and take up valuable resources and time. Here’s where Live365 can help.
Our staff is comprised of licensing experts with decades of experience. We can educate you and give advice on the best, personalized course of action for your station or network. Plus, we have a working relationship in place with the groups mentioned above so we can cover your station as well as take care of the ongoing reporting and payment tasks.
To learn more about music licensing - and how Live365 is the solution you need - check out our YouTube video on the subject below.
Interested in learning how Live365 can help your station with licensing? Contact us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended as legal advice. Please consult with qualified professionals if you have specific questions about copyrights and licensing.
Article image: Mark Solarski via Unsplash.
