New York, NY (Top40 Charts / SoundExchange) SoundExchange today announced a new record with total year-end royalty payments reaching $802.6 million (up 4 percent from $773.4 million the prior year). The fourth quarter 2015 distribution also increased, totaling $211.4 million (up 16 percent from $182.8 million the prior year).
"As we close the books on a historic year in distributions for SoundExchange, we are looking forward to 2016. In the year ahead we will continue to develop products and services that help the music industry run more efficiently, increase the velocity of payments and reduce friction," SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe said. "We believe 2016 will be our best year yet, and we are eager to share this ride together."
More than 2,500 non-interactive Internet radio, satellite radio and cable radio services pay royalties to recording artists and rights holders through SoundExchange.
In addition to surpassing $800 million in royalties paid for the first time, SoundExchange reached many important milestones in 2015 that moved the recorded music industry forward. SoundExchange's 2015 achievements include:
About SoundExchange
SoundExchange is the independent non-profit collective management organization representing the entire recorded music industry. The organization collects statutory royalties on behalf of over 110,000 recording artists and master rights owners accounts for the use of their content on satellite radio, Internet radio, cable TV music channels and other services that stream sound recordings. The Copyright Royalty Board, created by Congress, has entrusted SoundExchange as the sole entity in the United States to collect and distribute statutory digital performance royalties from more than 2,500 services. Since 2003, SoundExchange has paid out more than $3 billion in royalties. For more information visit www.SoundExchange.com or www.facebook.com/soundexchange.
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