Defying the past protocols of how record labels and artists are paid from streaming their music, Apple proposed to the panel of federal judges that make up the Copyright Royalty Board of a new base rate for all streaming tracks: 9.1 cents per 100 plays, according to The New York Times.
The tech music giant is currently arguing that it shouldn’t matter how people access the music; someone should pay for every single stream. If Apple’s rules are made regulatory, Spotify would soon have to pay labels way more than it currently does, especially when it comes to streaming on its free tier. Meanwhile, Apple would benefit all the same as Apple Music is a paid-access service.
It seems that the payment rates it proposes would not apply to its own services since it dealt with music publishers directly and promised above-market rates.
The payment structure proposal competes with Spotify’s, Google’s, Pandora’s, Amazon’s and the RIAA’s as the board seeks to enforce the proposals to last from 2018 to 2022.
