SoundExchange payouts to labels likely to top $900M in 2015 - but Beatport stalls payments

SoundExchange has just announced that its distributions to recorded music rights-holders have now topped $3bn since 2004, with a $900m million plus pay out likely for this year. Pandora says it pays out around 44% of its total revenue to SoundExchange each year. The organisation has revealed that it distributed $194.5m to labels and artists from digital radio via its statutory license in the first quarter of 2015.


SFX streaming platform Beatport has written to labels telling them it won’t be paying owed royalties for the past quarter until its parent, SFX Entertainment, completes its ‘going private’ process. In a letter to music rights-holders sent last night and obtained by MBW, Beatport told labels that SFX’s ‘going private’ procedure had “trapped certain earned label payments” - which will impact particularly on EDM labels with Beatport accounting for 90% of digital income for some dance labels.

More on SFX here 

UPDATE (08.08.15)

Beatport has confirmed that its latest quarterly royalty distributions to labels will be processed next week – with SFX box Robert Sillerman personally apologising for the “deeply embarrassing” and “inexcusable” decision to freeze Q2 payments.