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Latest Lawsuit Joust Between Music Radio and Songwriters

Major factual mistake in that story: Universal Music Group's parent company is Vivendi, a French conglomerate, and is not connected in any way with NBC Universal.

So yes, it can be very confusing on many fronts for many reasons.

The fact is that BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC have all negotiated with RMLC, and are all very satisfied with the money they receive. GMR is a new group, and the main thing they told their writers is they would get them more money. The problem with that is fairness. Radio can't pay one group more than another. Especially since writers often collaborate, so you'd have two writers on the same song getting different royalty rates. That's not fair.

Comparing it to digital is also unfair, because the digital rate is not negotiated, but rather set by the government. Songwriters aren't happy with that rate either, and they're lobbying in Congress for direct negotiations, as there is with radio. Bottom line is that they're not happy with either arrangement. That makes it difficult for any service that uses music, regardless of platform, to do business, and really points out why the government passed consent decrees forcing these music groups to co-operate.
 
One additional complication in this story, pointed out today by Tom Taylor, is that the head of GMR, Irving Azoff, is also on the board of directors of iHeartMedia, which is a conflict of interest. Even more confusing.
 
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