The Copyright Royalty Board has chosen to keep the statutory mechanical royalty rate at 9.1 cents.

The mechanical royalty rate is the royalty paid for reproduction/manufacture/distribution of a composition on records and sometimes other media.  The origin of the “mechanical” is that it is a royalty paid to mechanically reproduce the composition on a record.  It’s not done mechanically anymore, but the principle is the same.

The record labels always want the mechanical royalty rate to be lower, so they can pay less to the publishers.  On the other hand, the publishers understandably want the rate to be higher so that they can make more money.  Thus, this new decision by the CRB is a victory for publishers.

In addition to keeping the statutory mechanical rate at 9.1 cents, ringtones will remain at 24 cents.  The CRB also came out with new revenue sharing rates for publishers regarding some newly-created royalty categories, mostly having to do with the cloud, lockers, and interactive services.

You can read more detail in Billboard.

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Erin M. Jacobson is is an experienced deal negotiator and a seasoned advisor of intellectual property rights who protects artists, songwriters, music publishers, and other music professionals. Her clients include Grammy and Emmy Award winners, independent artists and companies, and distinguished legacy catalogues, as her knowledge of both classic music and current industry practices places her in a unique position to protect and revitalize older catalogues. She handles all types of music industry agreements, with an emphasis on music publishing. In addition to being named a Super Lawyers Rising Star and one of the Top Women Attorneys in Southern California, Ms. Jacobson is a frequent author and speaker, and has been featured in publications, including Billboard and Forbes. She also is on the Board of Directors for both the California Copyright Conference (CCC) and the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP).