Re:Sound Commercial Radio Tariff

Summary#

This notice publishes the Re:Sound Commercial Radio Tariff (2009-2025). It sets the royalties that commercial radio stations must pay to Re:Sound for playing recorded music on air and for simulcasting their signals online, and it lays out reporting, record-keeping and audit rules.

What it does#

• Sets monthly royalty rates that stations must pay to Re:Sound for over‑the‑air broadcasts and for simulcasts. Key rate periods cover past years up to December 31, 2025.
• Establishes a special flat amount of $100 on the first $1.25 million of annual advertising revenue (one provision in the tariff).
• Over‑the‑air broadcast rates (by station type and period):
  • Low‑use stations (see the tariff for the definition) pay 0.75% for January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020, and 1.2% for July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2025 (on gross income for the reference month).
  • Other stations pay:
    • For January 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020: 1.44% on the first $1.25 million in a year and 2.1% on the rest.
    • For July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2025: 2.7% on the first $1.25 million and 3.7% on the rest.
• Simulcast rates follow a similar split:
  • Low‑use simulcast rates: 0.75% for January 1, 2009 to August 12, 2014, and 1.2% from August 13, 2014 to December 31, 2025.
  • Other stations’ simulcast rates mirror the over‑the‑air percentages above, applied to simulcasting income, with period breaks at August 12–13, 2014 and December 31, 2025.
• Reporting and record rules:
  • Stations must pay royalties monthly (no later than the first day of the month) and report the reference month’s gross income and simulcasting income.
  • Within 14 days after the month ends, stations must provide full daily, sequential logs of every published sound recording they broadcast, with detailed fields (title, artist, time, label, ISRC, durations, UPC/catalogue numbers, etc.).
  • Stations must keep short‑term records for 6 months and financial records for 6 years.
  • Re:Sound may audit records; if under‑reporting exceeds 10%, the station pays the reasonable audit costs.
• Other administrative rules:
  • Late payments accrue interest at 1% above the Bank Rate (daily, non‑compounding).
  • Transitional rule: amounts related to rate increases must be paid by August 31, 2025.
  • If older simulcast records are missing, the tariff gives a specific formula (percentages for years 2009–2017 and later) to estimate past simulcasting income.

Who's affected#

• Commercial radio stations operating in Canada, including those that:
  • broadcast over the air, and/or
  • simulcast that broadcast via the Internet or other digital networks.
• Small or “low‑use” stations (those that play published sound recordings less than 20% of their broadcast time) have lower percentage rates but must keep detailed 90‑day logs.
• Re:Sound and other collective societies named in the tariff may receive reporting or audit results.
• Advertisers, service providers and stations’ accountants may notice the administrative and payment changes.
• If it’s unclear whether a particular station counts as “low‑use” or how simulcast income is defined, the tariff text should be consulted.

Why it matters#

• This sets how much Canadian commercial radio stations must pay for recorded music and for simulcasts through December 31, 2025.
• For many stations the tariff increases the percentage of revenue that must be paid to rights holders (notably for the July 1, 2020–December 31, 2025 period). That can affect station budgets, advertising pricing or programming choices.
• The tariff also creates a clear administrative burden: monthly payments, detailed music logs, multi‑year record keeping and possible audits.
• Stations lacking older simulcast records face prescribed methods for calculating past royalties, and any amounts tied to the rate increases must be paid by August 31, 2025.