Phonorecords V Royalty Proposals Submitted to CRB

Parties in the Phonorecords V proceeding have submitted written statements and royalty rate proposals to the US Copyright Royalty Board. This process will determine the mechanical royalty rates paid by on-demand streaming services to US songwriters and publishers between 2028 and 2032. The Phonorecords IV period covers 2023 to 2027, and in Phonorecords III, the board raised the headline royalty rate from 10.5 percent to 15.1 percent. For 2026, the rate is 13.1 cents per song or 2.52 cents per minute of playing time.

Participants include DiMA members Amazon, Apple Music, Feed.fm, Pandora, Qobuz, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube. The NMPA and NSAI are participating jointly as Copyright Owners, while the three major record companies filed jointly as Joint Record Company Participants alongside A2IM.

In March 2024, Spotify reclassified its Premium tiers as bundles containing 15 hours of audiobooks per month. According to RIAA data, US wholesale recorded music revenues increased 3.1 percent in 2025 to 11.5 billion dollars. If the parties do not reach a settlement, the hearing is scheduled to begin on March 22, 2027.