CRB Comment Period for Mechanical Rate Settlement Draws Supporters, Detractors — and Stevie Wonder?
Categoria: Musica
Much of the unease around the settlement involves what some say is an incorrect perception that the mechanical rate will be lowered at the start of the period.
Por Billboard | 13/08/2026
During the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) comment period over the negotiated settlement establishing the U.S. mechanical rate for songs in the 2028-2032 five-year term — including applying a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) each year to the current rate level — a formidable group of companies and some well-known music trade organizations (which include those who negotiated the settlement) came forward in support. Related Copyright Royalty Board Gears Up for Three Rate-Setting Proceedings; Interested Parties Must File Petition to Participate BE:FIRST Is Ready for the World: Inside the J-Pop Superstars' Long-Planned U.S. Breakthrough Glenn A. Baker, Australian Music Historian and Former Billboard Correspondent, Dies at 74 However, comments to the CRB judges from a number of organizations whose websites or public statements claim they represent a large number of songwriters and publishers, as well as the usual group of respected U.S. music industry contrarians, are equally vocal in saying they do not support the settlement. Many of them urge the CRB judges to establish a higher rate than what the settlement is proposing. In fact, a key question has emerged in the comments from those who oppose the settlement: At what rate level does the settlement begin for the next five-year term? Many of those opposing the settlement claim that its wording appears to lower the mechanical rate back to its initial starting point of 12 cents for the five-year term beginning in 2028, as opposed to starting with a COLA rate, which this year stands at 13.1 cents, with two more years of potential adjustments still to come. In the prior five-year term covering 2023-2027, the mechanical rate began at 12 cents and implemented COLA adjustments after the CRB judges rejected a settlement by the major record labels and music publishing and songwriter organizations to keep the rate for the 2023-2027 five-year term at 9.1 cents — a number that had already been static for 16 years. (The mechanical rate in question will cover what rate payment will go to songwriters when sales of CDs, vinyl, cassette and downloads occur in the U.S. This is known as the Subpart B rate, which also includes ringtones. It is part of the overall rate determination process that will also establish rates for streaming for the upcoming five-year term in a procedure known as Phonorecord V.) However, some sources in the camp that negotiated the settlement say it’s an incorrect interpretation of the wording of the settlement, and that the rate would not be set back to 12 cents. According to one of those sources, as things stand now, the proposed settlement rate would start at the 13.1 cent level per song. Even if the interpretation that the wording lowers the rate back to 12 cents is incorrect, the fact that so many have commented on it likely gets the issue of what the starting rate should be in front of the CRB judges — who, after becoming aware of the problem, can state an actual starting rate i