SoundExchange Cuts Webcasters a Deal

Written by Frank Smith

Wednesday, August 22. 2007 at 02:28 PM EDT 3 comments

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SoundExchange will offer qualified webcasters a discounted royalty rate through 2010 which will allow small webcasters to continue streaming under the terms of the Small Webcaster Settlement Act (SWSA). Small webcasters are described as those who make $1.25 million or less in total revenues and under this agreement would pay royalty fees of 10 or 12 percent of their revenues.

SoundExchange, the organization that collects royalties and distributes them to record labels and artists, has begun to send formal offers to selected webcasters. According to the release, "Qualified small commercial webcasters who sign the agreement will be able to stream sound recordings of any and all SoundExchange members at subsidized rates." The agreements must be signed by September 14, 2007.

Not signing the agreement can lead to higher royalty rates. Calls to SoundExchange to see what exactly qualifies a small commercial webcaster for this agreement/offer have not been returned. One thing is certain, SoundExchange likes to set deadlines, and small webcasters can't seem to determine whether or not they should adhere to them.