Remember when we heard about the RIAA wanting a bigger piece of the action from satellite radio? It now seems that they want to up the ante by 4-5 times the current rate... to 30% of revenues.
The contract with SIRIUS, XM and the RIAA expires at the end of this year. Both Sirius and XM have been paying for their music programming through a compulsory license - like other broadcast services - that requires the two to pay a relatively small fee every year.
This fee was agreed upon when satellite radio was just starting out. The new negotiations over rates must be agreed upon by June 30th, 2006 - if not, then the deal will enter into arbitration - and I'll almost guarantee you that it will.
[Dow Jones via Sirius Backstage]
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