<p>Just came home to this in my inbox from AFM. I thought it would be something relevant to discussion here:</p>
<p>10/27/2011 Alert to Recording Artists and Musicians:<br />
Your Royalties are at Risk!</p>
<p>SiriusXM Licensing Scheme Would Divert Performer Royalties to Independent Record Labels</p>
<p>In a move that is blatantly anti-artist and anti-musician, SiriusXM is seeking to sign up independent labels to a "direct license" deal that reduces the money it pays for music and gives your share to the record label, instead of directly to you — the performer.</p>
<p>Since the inception of satellite radio, Sirius and XM have paid royalties (required by the "statutory license" established by Congress) directly to SoundExchange. SoundExchange then pays half those royalties to artists (45% to featured artists and 5% to the AFM/AFTRA Fund for distribution to session performers) and half to the record labels. Artists — whether featured royalty artists or session singers — benefit from this system because performers get their 50% share Congress allocated to them directly and without recoupment. And everyone — artists and labels alike — benefits from SoundExchange’s transparent operations, low administrative costs, vigorous efforts to set fair license rates for music, and responsiveness to artist and label concerns. Moreover, SoundExchange is governed by a Board composed equally of label and artist representatives, including the unions.</p>
<p>SiriusXM is now seeking to undo your protections. How?</p>
<p>SiriusXM is approaching independent labels in an effort to get them to "direct license" for less than the established SoundExchange rate. Why would any label take that? SiriusXM is offering this deal to independents to bypass SoundExchange and pay the artists’ and musicians’ share to the label. Yes, that’s right. SiriusXM is offering to pay the independent labels all 100% of the license fee to the label, and cut the direct payment to the performers right out of the equation.</p>
<p>There is no question that SiriusXM’s offer is anti-artist and anti-musician. We think it’s incredibly bad for labels, too. The quest to get music for the lowest price possible — and make no mistake, that is the quest SiriusXM is on — leads to a very bad place for the music industry, where music is devalued and no-one — not artists, not musicians, not recording companies — can earn a fair living creating or investing in the music everyone wants to hear.</p>
<p>Independent Artists and Musicians: let your labels know that you believe they should support the long-term value of music by refusing the SiriusXM offer and insisting on the statutory license established by Congress and the system administered by SoundExchange which ensures transparency, efficiency, accountability — and most important direct, non-recoupable payment to artists of their fair share of royalties for SiriusXM’s use of your music.
</p>