Music industry online royalty disputes

The different parts of the music industry are in harmony, at least when it comes to some online royalties. In an agreement hailed as a "breakthrough that will facilitate new ways to offer music to consumers online," groups representing songwriters, music publishers, record labels and digital music websites have ended a seven-year dispute over two types of music royalties. Unfortunately, neither of those is the controversial performance royalty for Internet radio. That remains the subject of a high-stakes stalemate between SoundExchange, which collects the fees for artists and record companies, and Internet radio sites such as Pandora and Live365. The agreement resolves some contentious issues that were the subject of a six-month trial earlier this year before the Copyright Royalty Board, a group of judges charged by Congress with tackling these disputes. The groups -- the Digital Media Assn., the National Music Publishers' Assn., the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the Nashville Songwriters Assn. International, and the Songwriters Guild of America -- have agreed on so-called "mechanical royalties" for interactive streaming music and limited music downloads. It's all pretty complicated, but the groups said the deal should help lead to more cutting-edge music services.