WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SiriusXM joined with Azoff Music Management, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), to announce an agreement on the Music Modernization Act.  The changes build upon existing language to confirm in law that artists will receive 50% of performance royalties from SiriusXM for pre-1972 sound recordings, and confirm that the existing sound recording royalty rate for satellite radio will remain in place unchanged until 2027, an additional five year period.

Greg Maffei, President and CEO of Liberty Media stated, "We are pleased to join with the music community in sponsoring amendments that protect artists in this legislation.  It is important that the music industry move forward so that artists can showcase their work throughout the United States."

Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM added, "SiriusXM is a platform that respects and actively supports artists and all music creators, and we are delighted to have reached this agreement to help pass this bill."

Irving Azoff, founder, Azoff Music Management, said, "This is a monumental occasion for artists and songwriters who are now assured – in law – that they will receive their deserved royalties.  We are proud to be a part of this critical consensus and the ongoing fight for artists' rights."

Mitch Glazier, President, RIAA: "We are pleased that SiriusXM and the music community have come to an agreement that ensures the protection of artists, songwriters, publishers, labels, producers, and all music creators who will benefit from this long-sought, consensus legislation." 

David Israelite, President & CEO, NMPA:  "On behalf of the publishing community, we are grateful to have reached this agreement which finally puts another objection to this groundbreaking bill to rest, and are united around a key goal of protecting all those in the music ecosystem."

Dina LaPolt, attorney, NMPA:  "I am ecstatic over the passing of the Orrin G. Hatch Music Modernization Act through the U.S. Senate today.   After 5 years of collaboration and helping to bring people together from all parts of the music business, we have finally harmonized as an industry.   This is a historic occasion for the music industry, copyright reform, and marks the beginning of a new era for music creators in consensus with stakeholders industry-wide."

The Music Modernization Act, S. 2823, including the CLASSICS Act, updates music licensing laws for the streaming era.

About SiriusXM

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: SIRI) is the world's largest radio company measured by revenue and has approximately 33.5 million subscribers. SiriusXM creates and offers commercial-free music; premier sports talk and live events; comedy; news; exclusive talk and entertainment, and a wide-range of Latin music, sports and talk programming. SiriusXM is available in vehicles from every major car company and on smartphones and other connected devices as well as online at siriusxm.com. SiriusXM radios and accessories are available from retailers nationwide and online at SiriusXM. SiriusXM also provides premium traffic, weather, data and information services for subscribers through SiriusXM Traffic™, SiriusXM Travel Link, NavTraffic®, NavWeather™. SiriusXM delivers weather, data and information services to aircraft and boats through SiriusXM Aviation™ and SiriusXM Marine™. In addition, SiriusXM Music for Business provides commercial-free music to a variety of businesses. SiriusXM holds a minority interest in SiriusXM Canada which has approximately 2.6 million subscribers. SiriusXM is also a leading provider of connected vehicles services, giving customers access to a suite of safety, security, and convenience services including automatic crash notification, stolen vehicle recovery assistance, enhanced roadside assistance and turn-by-turn navigation.

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Source: SiriusXM

Media Contact for SiriusXM:

Patrick Reilly
partick.reilly@siriusxm.com

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SOURCE Sirius XM Holdings Inc.