BMI celebrates 'historic' year amid concern due to the coronavirus pandemic

 

By Emmanuel Legrand

 Despite a challenging environment due to the coronavirus pandemic, US rights society BMI has closed its fiscal year ending June 30 with historic revenue of $1.311 billion, up 2.1% year-on-year, and record royalty distributions of $1.233bn, up 3% from the previous year to its affiliated songwriters, composers and publishers. It is the fifth consecutive year that the New York-based society has reported year-over-year growth. According to BMI, "these results represent the highest reported public performance revenues and royalty distributions of any music rights organisation in the world."

  BMI did not address the potential impact of the pandemic on its revenues during fiscal year 2019-2020, except to say that it estimates it has absorbed "a $60m negative impact to its revenues due to the Covid-19 effect across multiple businesses since the lockdown in March." The society did not elaborate either on the impact of the crisis on its 2020-2021 fiscal year.

  The $1.233bn in distributions includes domestic and international royalties, as well as distributions from direct deals that BMI administers on behalf of its publisher and digital service provider clients. Those direct deals, which account for $71m, represent an increase of $9m over last year and approximately 6% of BMI’s total distribution.

Digital becomes the main source of revenue

  Total domestic revenue, including digital, media and general licensing, reached $961m, a 2% increase over the previous year. "Strong growth in the digital and radio categories helped weather a decline in other areas, notably the general licensing sector, where businesses such as live concert venues, bars, restaurants, fitness centers, retail establishments and many others faced closures as a result of the pandemic," explained the society. 

  Other highlights from the financial results include:
  > Revenue from digital sources represented 32% of BMI’s domestic total at $304m, up 16% over last year's figures. BMI noted that this was "the first time the digital category eclipsed all others. As people stayed home during the COVID-19 crisis, they turned to indoor entertainment which translated to increases in viewers and listeners."
  > BMI experienced strong growth from subscription streaming services that feature TV series, movies and music, in a year marked by new digital audiovisual licensing agreements with Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max and Peacock. 
  > Total domestic media licensing revenue, comprised of cable & satellite, broadcast television and radio, came in at $527m, up 3% over last year. Revenues from cable and satellite-derived income remained the largest contributor in this category at $271m. Radio revenues were up 21% to $155m, thanks to BMI’s rate court settlement with the Radio Music Licensing Committee (RMLC) that "resulted in a new agreement and retroactive payments." Broadcast television revenue came in at $101m, flat to last year. 
  > General licensing, along with other income, came in at $130m, down 23% from last year.
  > BMI’s international revenue grew to $350m, up 3% year-on-year. BMI noted that this figure "would have been $9 million more were it not for a negative foreign exchange impact."
  > BMI processed during its fiscal year approximately two trillion performances. The number is slightly lower than the previous year’s total, which the society attributes to "a change in BMI’s internal performance tracking system." The Company actually saw a 26% increase in performances processed when comparing year-over-year with this new approach. 



  “During this unprecedented year, our songwriters and composers’ incredible creativity, talent and resilience were beyond compare and truly inspiring," said BMI President and CEO Mike O’Neill (pictured, above). "We were thrilled to be able to distribute our highest royalties ever and deliver them earlier than scheduled to help ease the concerns of our creators and publishers during this challenging time. BMI remains committed to supporting our affiliates during this crisis and beyond, and our team continues to work hard every day to protect the profession of songwriting and composing and ensure the ongoing creation of new music.”