Public Radio Stations Face Uncertainty As New Music Rate Fight Begins Without CPB.

With the Corporation for Public Broadcasting winding toward dissolution, the next round of music use rate-setting negotiations could be considerably more complicated. As one of its final acts, CPB reached a deal with songwriters securing performance rights for public radio through Dec. 31, 2027. What the future holds is less clear as the Copyright Royalty Board wastes no time beginning to examine what will happen in two years when that agreement expires.

In a notice published in the Federal Register, the Copyright Royalty Board’s judges have announced the start of a new proceeding to determine “reasonable rates and terms” for the use of copyrighted works by public broadcasters for the five-year period beginning Jan. 1, 2028, and ending Dec. 31, 2032.

It means there isn’t a lot of time to breathe easy even though CPB announced in October that it reached agreements with the five big performing rights organizations, including ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, the Harry Fox Agency, and Global Music Rights. It meant public broadcasters were able to avoid what can be years of expensive negotiations and instead have some near-term certainty about how much they will pay to songwriters.

The new arrangement also offered some stability for the music rights holders, since it remains unclear how they will negotiate deals with public broadcasters in the years to come. For decades, CPB has assumed the responsibility of negotiating and administering multiyear agreements on behalf of the entire public media system — securing rates, ensuring compliance, and covering the administrative costs of licensing and monitoring more than 500 stations nationwide.

By handling these agreements systemwide, CPB has also saved stations millions of dollars annually, both through reduced fees and by eliminating the need for each station to manage its own complex and costly licensing process.

But that is coming to an end. The CPB Board voted to dissolve Monday, nearly six months after Congress cut off all federal funding from public radio and television.

Some answers may emerge in the coming weeks as the Copyright Royalty Board says parties seeking to influence or take part in the upcoming proceeding must file a Petition to Participate by Jan. 30, accompanied by a $150 filing fee. Under the Copyright Act, the CRB judges will determine the schedule and procedural calendar after petitions are received.

To date, just one entity — the Harry Fox Agency — has submitted its paperwork, although the other major performing rights organizations are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks. NPR has typically negotiated deals for its member stations, leaving a potential gap in the remaining public radio stations that aren’t under the network’s umbrella.

Public radio stations have a bit more time to sort out who will represent them in their next round of negotiations for streaming rights. SoundExchange, NPR and CPB announced in May that they had struck a settlement for the 2026 to 2030 period. Under the tentative deal, public broadcasters will pay more. Costs will climb from $950,000 in 2026 to $1.05 million in 2030 — as long as the total music aggregate tuning hours of all its websites remain below a combined 310 million hours for all public broadcasters. The number includes an annual minimum fee for each public broadcaster as well as additional usage fees for certain stations.