Broadcast Music Inc. Earned Industry-Breaking $1B Revenue, $877 Million of Which Went to Affiliates

Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) reported Tuesday that it generated an industry-breaking $1.013 billion for the year period which ended on June 30. This the first time the company hit the billion dollar mark.

According to the International Business Times, the nonprofit performing-rights organization gave $877 million out of the more than $1 billion revenue to its affiliate songwriters, publishers, and stars that number to more than 700,000. Some of its most popular artists include Pitbull, Adam Levine, and Mariah Carey.

IBM president and CEO Mike O'Neill said this is a phenomenal result for the company, saying "We will continue to work hard on behalf of the more than 700,000 affiliates we have the privilege to represent, not only to make sure they can continue to earn a living doing what they love."

BMI's radio, cable, satellite, TV, and other media licensing leg earned $484 million. Fees paid to the music company from other businesses such as restaurants, hotels, bars, and fitness centers added $137 million to the pot.

Meanwhile, the company earned $100 million in revenue from its digital business, which includes Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube. Its international revenue is $292 million. Billboard reported that BMI processed a total of 600 billion performances over the year, 500 billion of which were over the internet. That is an increase of 25% compared to the previous year's performances. According to the company, more than 1.2 million unique musical works were discovered from its digital services.

Fortune reported that BMI's digital revenue went up 65% over the last year. This led to more payouts for songwriters and music publishers. BMI is one of the agencies that supports Taylor Swift's advocacy to pay the royalties to the artists for streaming rights.

Despite the boom in the digital service industry, BMI's $484 million from its licensing leg only shows that its biggest income still comes from the traditional business with TV, Radio, and satellite entertainment.