Relationship with SoundExchange: toward better days?

SoundExchange, the talk of the town. Our relationship with them is under scrutiny. Royalty payments from Sirius XM, especially for francophone performers, are reaching dizzying heights.

Previously, Artisti received SoundExchange’s playlists, identified the repertoire of its members, and made the necessary claims (“claim based” approach). In 2015, SoundExchange announced a significant change to the payment process for members of foreign sister societies. Now, they are asking the sister societies to provide the entire repertoire represented in the United States so that they can perform the matching themselves (“repertoire based” approach).

More accurate distributions, time savings, the benefits of the repertoire based solution were numerous according to SoundExchange. But the task of integrating the repertoire of foreign societies was more complex than expected, and during this time, the songs continued to play on Sirius XM, while, for some members, the money was not distributed within a reasonable timeframe.

THERE IS SOME IMPROVEMENT!

Some situations pending for several years have cleared, long-awaited royalties are finally available and it was out of the question to wait for the distribution of the month of August to release them. We have just distributed a first retroactive payment for the years 2014 to 2016 (identified as 2014 on your statements) as well as the payment of the first quarter of 2018 (December 2017, January and February 2018, identified as 2017 on your statements).

It is still too early to talk about a return to normal in our relationship with the United States, but the fact that matches between Sirius XM’s playlists and Artisti’s repertoire are finally made allows us to hope for improvement. Only time will tell if the change is sustainable, and the second quarter payment (which will come in the summer) will be a good indicator to confirm the trend.

It is important for us to recognize and show appreciation for the support that we have witnessed daily from members who have chosen to stay with us in these difficult times. Nothing will replace this direct relation with you, it is together that we are going through the storm.

Strength in numbers? You bet!

Ali Mafi,
International Business Analyst, for the team