New Streaming Music Rates

The Copyright Royalty Board, the governmental agency in the U.S. charged with setting royalty rates for online streaming, announced in mid-December the new rates for 2011-2015. The new rates must be approved by Congress. If that happens, the new rates will be as follows:

2011: $0.0019 per performance
2012: $0.0021 per performance
2013: $0.0021 per performance
2014: $0.0023 per performance
2015: $0.0023 per performance

To put this in perspective, the 2011 rate is the same as it was in 2010. These rates only apply to online broadcasters that use the statutory rates. Other entities, such as Pandora, which have negotiated their own individual deals with rights holders, will not be affected by this decision.