Royalty Group Seeks Higher Fees From Satellite Radio

Soundexchange, the non-profit organization that collects and distributes royalties from digital music services on behalf of artists and record labels, is seeking higher fees from Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, Soundexchange announced Oct. 30.

"The essence of satellite radio is music," John Simson, executive director of Soundexchange, said in a statement. "We are asking simply that these companies recognize our substantial contribution to their business by paying a fair price to artists and record labels for their creativity and investment."

The current agreement is about to expire, and Soundexchange submitted a case to the Copyright Royalty Board seeking 10 percent of the revenues of Sirius and XM in the first year of a new six-year agreement, or $1.10 per subscriber, according to reports. The rate would gradually increase throughout the six-year agreement, reaching 23 percent, or $2.75 per subscriber, by 2012.