Sirius XM to Pay $150 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over Royalties -- 2nd Update
June 11 2018 - 6:20PM
Dow Jones News
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.
The settlement comes as Sirius is facing rising expenses for the
performance royalties collected by SoundExchange on behalf of
record companies and artists. The Copyright Royalty Board late last
year decided Sirius would pay almost 41% more for the music it
plays on its satellite-radio service starting this year.
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.
--Anne Steele contributed to this article.
Write to Aisha Al-Muslim at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 11, 2018 18:05 ET (22:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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