SoundExchange, the premier music tech organization powering the future of music, has announced that the non-profit company filed suit on July 19th in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against AccuRadio, Inc. to recover unpaid royalties owed to performers and rights owners.

“AccuRadio has directly harmed creators over the years by refusing to pay royalties for the use of protected recordings,” said Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange. “Today, SoundExchange is standing up for creators through this lawsuit to protect the value of music and ensure creators are compensated fairly for their work. We hope AccuRadio will immediately reverse course and pay what they owe for the use of the music that sits at the foundation of its service.”

Background

SoundExchange is the sole entity in the United States designated by the Library of Congress to administer the statutory license specified in Section 114 of the Copyright Act, collect digital performance royalties from licensees, and distribute those royalties to performing artists and copyright owners.

AccuRadio is a “customizable Internet radio service” that uses the statutory license for the use of sound recordings.

Until 2016, AccuRadio paid statutory royalties for recordings it was using. That changed in 2016, when its payments slowed and finally stopped in 2018. SoundExchange has been in negotiations with AccuRadio since that time to resolve their outstanding balance, but AccuRadio has failed to meet the terms to which the parties agreed. SoundExchange is now filing a complaint to recover the royalties AccuRadio owes.

About SoundExchange

SoundExchange is the premier music tech organization on a mission to power the future of music. It was independently formed in 2003 to build a fairer, simpler, and more efficient music industry through technology, data, and advocacy. The only organization designated by the U.S. government to administer the Section 114 sound recording license, SoundExchange collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of more than 700,000 music creators and growing. Through proprietary music tech solutions that turn data into accurate revenue, SoundExchange has paid more than $11 billion in distributions to date. For more information, visit soundexchange.com.