Re:Sound has released its 2017 Annual Report, which is available to the public at 2017.resound.ca. Re:Sound is the Canadian not-for-profit music licensing company that collects and distributes performance royalties for artists and record companies. Overall, Re:Sound collected $53.4 million in revenue in 2017, the highest ever since its incorporation in 1997.
The report shows that 2017 was a very good year for Re:Sound and its members. In total, Re:Sound's distributable revenues were $45.9 million, and the PRO processed 9.7 million claims by rights holders. It moved from 28-day radio log reporting to 365-day, resulting in a higher volume of data that leads to greater accuracy in its distributions, according to the organization. Re:Sound also worked closely with industry organisations like CONNECT Music Licensing and Bell Media to implement 100 per cent compliance on ISRC (International Standard Recording Code) data.
Re:Sound’s five latest tariffs – sporting events, comedy and magic shows, concerts and theatrical dance – yielded a 17.5 per cent increase in revenue over 2016, and licensing nearly 3000 new businesses. At the end of 2017, Re:Sound had licensed nearly 76,000 businesses across Canada.
Building off its Core Rights partnership with SOCAN in 2016, Re:Sound launched a joint portal pilot project to serve 397 reception and convention venues in Ontario in Fall 2017.
The $53.4 million in revenue collected in 2017 represents an increase of $7.5M (+16%) from the previous year and $24.7M (+86%) from 2008. This was supported by growth in public performance and international income. Re:Sound says it has also improved its expense-to-revenue ratio from 14.4 per cent in 2016 to 13.9 per cent in 2017.
For more information and to read the full report, go to 2017.resound.ca.