BMG has signed up The Rolling Stones to represent the band globally in pursuing collections of master recording performance rights royalties when their songs are played on radio and television, also known as neighboring rights.
While in the U.S., master recording performance royalties are only paid when music is played on digital and satellite radio — and not when tracks play on terrestrial radio or TV — in most other countries those rights receive royalty payments for that kind of play in addition to digital. This signing gives a big boost to BMG’s neighboring rights service, launched only six months ago.
“If you are in the business of selling services to artists and songwriters, these are the kinds of client you dream of attracting,” BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said in a statement. “We are immensely grateful to Sir Mick [Jagger], Keith [Richards], Charlie [Watts] and Ronnie [Wood] for putting their faith in us.”
According to BMG, the neighboring rights deal covers all of the Stones’ music from their first single “Come On,” released in 1963, to “Living In A Ghost Town,” released this year
At the same time BMG announced that the band had reached a deal extending BMG’s representation of Jagger and Richards’ music publishing rights, in a deal first signed back in 2013. The extension covers all of the works written by “the iconic duo dating back more than 50 years,” BMG said. The company also pointed out that while it handles Jagger and Richards’ shares of the pre-1983 catalog, the band’s music publishing is controlled by ABCKO for songs released from 1963-1971 while EMI Music Publishing handles the band’s publishing for music released from 1971-1983. So, BMG is directly responsible for publishing of all songs written by The Rolling Stones from 1983 onward.
“At a time when streaming is further highlighting the value of iconic music rights, our objective is to offer the best possible service to artists and songwriters,” BMG president of repertoire & marketing UK Alistair Norbury said in a statement. “We are delighted for the opportunity to further demonstrate the value we can add for four of the greatest names in rock with our neighboring rights service.”
