The owner of the world’s largest music company is predicting a return to growth in the industry as new ways of making money from legal digital downloading come to fruition. [MORE]
BMI’s revenues topped $901 million last year and $224 million of it came from radio. Total revenues were up 7% last year, allowing the music performing rights company to distribute a record $786 million to songwriters and composers. Can radio afford to pay more? The record labels are pushing to get Congress to undo radio’s exemption from a performance-based royalty that could add from $2 to $7 billion in new fees.
MySpace’s upcoming music joint venture with 3 of the 4 major labels, first announced in April, will launch in September (EMI is still a holdout, but from what we hear they may be ready to fold soon). [MORE]