SIRI Sirius XM Holdings Inc

By Aisha Al-Muslim 

Sirius XM Radio Inc. has agreed to pay $150 million to SoundExchange Inc. to settle lawsuits alleging that the satellite-radio giant underpaid royalties for recordings.

The Sirius XM Holdings Inc. subsidiary said it would make a one-time payment to SoundExchange, a not-for-profit offshoot of the Recording Industry Association of America, on or before July 7, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement resolves claims for recordings from Jan. 1, 2007, to Dec. 31, 2017, Sirius said.

SoundExchange, which collects performance royalties from digital music services on behalf of record companies and artists, had sued Sirius in 2013, alleging Sirius refused to pay for recordings made before 1972. SoundExchange also filed a second lawsuit in December alleging that Sirius underpaid it by understating gross revenues.

Sirius had been setting aside the revenue generated by these pre-1972 spins before it calculated the royalties it owes rights holders. But SoundExchange believed Sirius should have paid royalties on all of its subscription revenue, without subtracting older music.

SoundExchange Chief Executive Michael Huppe said in a statement the organization was happy to resolve the case and that it would distribute additional royalties to artists and rights owners.

Sirius, which generated $5.43 billion of revenue last year, had more than 33 million subscribers as of March 31.

Shares of Sirius, up 39% in the past year, fell 0.3% to $7.22 on Monday.

Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 11, 2018 17:37 ET (21:37 GMT)

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