Global Music Rights Resolves Legal Battle With Radio Stations Over Performance Rights

Global Music Rights has struck an agreement with the Radio Music License Committee, resolving an antitrust lawsuit after more than five years.
Global Music, the Westwood-based performing rights organization co-founded by Irving Azoff and Chief Executive Randy Grimmett, announced a confidential settlement Jan. 7, which was sent to commercial radio stations represented by RMLC.

An undisclosed percentage of radio stations must agree to the terms of the settlement for it to go through. Those stations that do not agree to the settlement by Jan. 31 and have not negotiated an independent agreement with GMR will be required to remove GMR’s music from their playlists by March 31.
 
“We strongly encourage your company to consider this negotiated settlement offer if your stations desire to continue publicly performing songs in the GMR repertory,” the agreement states. “It will put an end to five years of litigation between RMLC and GMR, and give radio stations the opportunity to perform GMR works for several years with rate certainty.”

RMLC represents approximately 10,000 radio stations across the country. The organization filed suit against GMR in 2016 arguing that GMR violated antitrust laws by packaging multiple artists in an all-or-nothing deal. GMR responded, arguing that RMLC’s authority to negotiate commercial radio station royalty rates constituted an “illegal buyer’s cartel,” per legal documentation filed at the time. In 2019, the Justice Department backed GMR, stating that RMLC’s “naked agreements to fix prices are one of the most pernicious forms of anticompetitive restraint” that violate antitrust laws.

GMR represents more 43,000 songs and 83 songwriters, including Drake, Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars and Pharrell Williams.