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US officials submit a 44% increase in songwriter streaming royalties

Streaming services have 30 days to challenge the ruling...

The US Copyright Royalty Board has officially approved a 44% increase in streaming royalty rates following a campaign last year led by songwriters and publishers.

The new rates will now come into affect, but streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal have 30 days to challenge the increase. Publishers have however issued a strong warning to streaming services not to lodge an appeal.

"The digital music companies now have 30 days to appeal that ruling, and in effect declare war on songwriters," said National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) president David Israelite.

Apple has appearently indicated that it will not challenge the ruling, according to Israelite. "We will know soon whether some digital companies want to be partners or want to attack the Songwriters who make their businesses possible,” Israelite continued.

In other streaming news, Spotify recently revealed that producers and labels will soon be able to upload their music themselves to the service. Check out our recent feature looking at how streaming coming to the DJ booth will make a big impact here.