A new level of efficiency in royalty distribution, in keeping with international standards, is announced today with CONNECT Music Licensing’s decision to have their nearly 2,700 members receive their public performance and private copying royalties directly from Re:Sound.

Re:Sound has been collecting and administering public performance and private copying royalties for musicians and record labels since 1997, when Canada implemented the right for musicians and record labels to be compensated when their sound recordings were broadcast to, or played in, public.

Previously, these royalties were distributed to CONNECT Music Licensing’s nearly 2,700 members by CONNECT after it made royalty claims to Re:Sound on its members’ behalf. In order to ensure maximum efficiencies, a third party firm with extensive expertise in this field was retained to conduct an external review of the royalty distribution process. With today’s announcement, CONNECT’s members will receive public performance and private copying royalties directly from Re:Sound, eliminating duplication in the royalty distribution process and making it simpler and more cost effective (cutting overall distribution costs by about one-third).

“CONNECT continuously strives to work as efficiently as possible. To this end, we saw a way to save time and money for our nearly 2,700 rights holders by having Re:Sound, a trusted partner of CONNECT, pay public performance and private copying royalties directly to our members. This will allow CONNECT to focus on reproduction royalties and will mean greater royalty payments to record labels and artists, faster,” said Graham Henderson, President of CONNECT Music Licensing.

“Knowing that the organizations responsible for administering our royalties are doing their absolute best to ensure that we’re paid every dollar of royalties that we’re owed, at as low a cost as possible, as quickly as possible, allows us to focus on what we do best: helping the artists we work with record and release great music,” said Mathieu Drouin, CONNECT Board Member and President of Crystal Math Music Group.

“I applaud CONNECT and Re:Sound for working so hard on behalf of rights holders to find new ways to improve the royalty distribution system. Their diligence and commitment to this effort has resulted in a far more efficient process, which means record labels will be paying less in administrative fees and receive more of their royalties, faster than ever before,” said Stuart Johnston, President of the Canadian Independent Music Association (CIMA).

“We count on organizations who administer royalties on our behalf to do so as inexpensively and quickly as possible. The additional amount in royalties released through this important efficiency initiative enhances a crucial revenue source for labels,” said Shauna de Cartier, Six Shooter Records and Chair of CIMA.

Re:Sound will begin making direct royalty payments to CONNECT members in July 2016, and looks forward to offering the same quality of service CONNECT has offered to its members for the last thirty years.

“At Re:Sound, we are committed to maximizing public performance royalties for artists and record labels and ensuring that royalties are distributed as efficiently, and at as low cost, as possible. CONNECT’s move to bring their member labels to Re:Sound directly means more of every dollar will get into the hands of the labels themselves,” said Ian MacKay, President of Re:Sound.

This change comes at a time of increased scrutiny on the effectiveness and transparency of collective licensing organizations worldwide. The efforts undertaken by CONNECT, working with Re:Sound, ensure that Canada is leading best practices in this area, and the global music community has taken notice.

“Music licensing companies around the world are adopting best practice strategies to maximize royalty distributions to music rights holders and ensure they are direct, transparent and as low cost as possible. CONNECT has shown a very positive willingness to innovate in this area. Their decision brings Canada into line with international best practices, and that will mean more of every royalty dollar will go to rights holders.” – Frances Moore, CEO, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

About CONNECT Music Licensing:

CONNECT Music Licensing administers licences in Canada for the reproduction of sound recordings, and the reproduction and broadcast of music videos on behalf of the copyright owners (usually the record company). Its members, which consist of all the major record companies, many independent labels, as well as artists and producers, own or control the vast majority of the copyright of all the sound recordings and music videos produced and/or distributed in Canada.

CONNECT Music Licensing represents its members at Re:Sound for the communication, public performance and private copying of their eligible sound recordings.

About Re:Sound:

Re:Sound (formerly known as the Neighbouring Rights Collective of Canada) is the Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company dedicated to obtaining fair compensation for artists and record companies for their public performance rights. On behalf of its members, representing thousands of artists and record companies, Re:Sound licenses recorded music for public performance, broadcast and new media and distributes royalties to rights holders through its member organisations, to individual rights holders directly, and through its bilateral agreements with international collective societies.

Re:Sound is also a member of the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC), created to receive private copying levies from the manufacturers and importers of blank audio recording media.

 

Source:

FYI Music News (06/17/2016) http://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2016/06/17/connect-music-licensing-achieves-efficiency-royalty-distribution