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Other options for playing music on your station?

P

pacekdsj

Hey everyone,

Say I was wondering if there are other options for playing music at your radio station? At our station we pay BMI, ASCAP and SESAC as I'm sure most stations do, however, is there a service/website that takes care of those for you and/or offers you a special price?

I know there are royalty free options but does Spotify or any other service offer something like this?

I guess what I'm asking is there any other way to find music to play on your station that doesn't involve the big three or at least offers a monthly package for the three? I'm interested to see what other stations do from music standpoint. I took over a station about three weeks ago and want to continue to get advice from the great people in this forum.

Thanks in advance!
 
Chuck said:
Not that I know of. Don't forget you now need to pay Global Music Rights (GMR). Oh Joy....
Click to expand...
No options, no quantity discounts, unless you're a non-comm. Sesac, BMI, ASCAP, GMR. Sesac recently had to dramatically lower their fees due to a court case, and GMR has a rate that appears to be market size related, but don't know how they come up with them. BMI and ASCAP both base the fees on Broadcast Revenues, and therefore change each year based on previous year's revenues.

One option would be to play only original, unlicensed music. Probably not a ratings winner.
 
You mention Spotify, and that brings up the subject of digital streaming. Spotify is a digital streaming service. Under the law, they not only pay the four publishing organizations you list, but also something called SoundExchange. They pay artists, labels, and musicians. If your station streams its signal on the internet, you also have to pay SoundExchange.

If you carry syndicated shows or run a satellite-delivered format, the station is still directly responsible for paying music royalties, not the syndicator.

There is an organization that negotiates a group rate for broadcast radio stations called the Radio Music Licensing Committee. They charge a fee for being a part of their group. It might not be worth it for your station to be a part of their negotiating group.

Always good to get legal advice on these matters. Here's a site you should search and consult on these things. This article talks about the RMLC and what they do.

https://www.broadcastlawblog.com/20...nd-why-should-a-radio-station-pay-their-bill/
 
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