NMPA, NSAI, and DiMA Announced New Royalty Rate for Songwriters and Music Producers

The National Music Publisher’s Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and the Digital Media Association (DiMA)—whose member companies are Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, Apple Music, and YouTube—announced on Aug. 31 that they’ve reached an agreement with music streaming services that benefits music creators.

The deal increases the royalty rate to 15.35% for musicians, songwriters, and music publishers.

The new mechanical streaming rate will activate over a five-year term, from 2023-2027. Along with supporting creators, the agreement strives for innovation, sustainability, and uniformity—it also makes it possible for all parties involved in the deal to collaborate again.

There are other components that will undergo changes to ensure the deal is successful. The deal encompasses an increase to the per-subscriber minimums and the “Total Content Costs (TCC),” reflecting the amount the streaming companies pay to record labels.

The new agreement comes after the Copyright Royalty Board decided on a rate of 15.1% in July for the 2018-2022 term.

“This historic settlement is the result of songwriters making their voices heard. Instead of going to trial and continuing years of conflict, we instead move forward in collaboration with the highest rates ever, guaranteed,” NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison said. “We thank the digital services for coming to the table and treating creators as business partners. Critically, since this is a percentage rate, we know that as streaming continues to grow exponentially, we will see unprecedented value of songs.”