Apple Web radio stalls over music rights

The rough news for Apple lately is not just about its much-derided new maps program.


The two companies are at odds over what rate Apple should pay to stream Sony/ATV songs on its service, a money standoff typical of such negotiations.

But what is new is that Apple needs to negotiate at all. Typically, streaming services have obtained publishing rights from the major performing-rights organizations, ASCAP and BMI, which for decades have acted as clearinghouses on behalf of publishers and songwriters.

In recent years, some music companies have moved away from that model, figuring that the returns would be better if they handled licensing directly and opted out of the blanket rates set by those organizations.

When an investor group led by Sony bought EMI Music Publishing in June for $2.2 billion, Sony/ATV, a joint venture between Sony and the estate of Michael Jackson, took control of the world’s largest music publishing catalog with 2 million songs, including most of the Beatles songs as well as current hits by Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.

EMI already withdrew its digital rights from ASCAP, and Sony/ATV will follow suit with the rest of its catalog, effective Jan 1.

So just as Apple hopes to line up the licenses it needs to operate a streaming radio service, obtaining those licenses suddenly has become more complicated.