Rumors continue to swirl surrounding BMI’s supposed flirtation with a sale to deepest equity agency Fresh Mountain Capital, and songwriters are concerned.
Following experiences that a source shut to the self-discipline printed to Billboard that performing rights group Broadcast Tune Inc. (BMI) turned into in talks to sell itself to deepest equity agency Fresh Mountain Capital, rumors continue to floor over whether or now not the deal will shut. If honest, the supposed imprint for the transaction is a whopping $1.7 billion.
Whereas this isn’t the first rumor surrounding BMI since the group shifted from a now not-for-income to a for-income company final year and equipped itself on the market, the uncertainty of its fate has sparked be concerned amongst songwriters and publishers.
Tune commerce organizations, together with the Unlit Tune Artists Coalition, the Artist Rights Alliance, the Tune Artists Coalition, SAG-AFTRA, and Songwriters of North The USA, wrote a letter to BMI final week expressing their collective be concerned over the affect the company’s contemporary income-pushed advance could well well need on songwriter funds.
“Songwriters hold a vested hobby in adjustments at BMI and in any proposed transaction which is wholly dependent on songs they hold got written,” the letter reads. “BMI would now not obtain copyrights or other assets; it’s far a licensing entity for copyrights owned by songwriters and, by extension, publishers. Songwriters hold a actual to take care of shut these choices and the draw (they affect) us.”
“Will the broadcasters on BMI’s Board obtain the sale proceeds? If that is the case, why ought to broadcasters be the excellent beneficiary from a sale of an organization whose only asset is songs that belong to songwriters?” the letter continues. “If broadcasters profit from the sale of BMI, aren’t they truly receiving a rebate on the licensing charges they’ve paid? In other words, they purchased to play songs without cost.”
To assuage concerns, BMI President Mike O’Neill has emphasised a commitment to prioritizing songwriters’ interests and financial success, citing upgrades to BMI’s companies and products portal and the same initiatives enabled by the shift to a for-income model.
Meanwhile, Jody Gerson, CEO and Chair of Universal Tune Publishing Group, tells Tune Enterprise Worldwide: “We don’t observation on rumor or speculations, but to be very sure, we’ll have the flexibility to only reinforce adjustments that raise cost for songwriters and is now not always going to stand for any that discontinue in our songwriters being paid lower than what they deserve. We hold a long history of efficiently combating for our songwriters and will continue to quit so.”
