CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

Contingencies

The Company is subject to various outstanding claims which arise in the ordinary course of business and to other legal proceedings. Management anticipates that any potential liability of the Company, which may arise out of or with respect to these matters, will not materially affect the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows. There were no material changes from the contingencies listed in the Company’s Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 1, 2021, except as described below.

Music Licensing

The Radio Music Licensing Committee (the “RMLC”), of which we are a represented participant: (i) is currently engaged in arbitration proceedings with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers ("ASCAP") regarding interpretation of the Most Favored Nations provision in the current ASCAP-2017 license as the result of the RMLC’s recent settlement with Broadcast Music, Inc. ("BMI") (as further described below), and the RMLC has filed a counterclaim against ASCAP alleging ASCAP fraudulently misrepresented its share of musical works at the time the ASCAP-2017 license was negotiated; (ii) entered into an industry-wide settlement with BMI resulting in a new license made available to RMLC members, which license is effective retroactively to January 1, 2017 and will expire on December 31, 2021; and (iii) entered into an industry-wide settlement with SESAC, Inc. ("SESAC") resulting in a new license made available to RMLC members, which license is effective retroactively to January 1, 2019 and will expire December 31, 2022. Effective as of January 1, 2021, the Company entered into a direct license agreement with Global Music Rights, LLC.

The United States Copyright Royalty Board ("CRB") held virtual hearings in August 2020 to determine royalty rates for the public digital performance of sound recordings on the Internet ("Webcasting") under federal statutory licenses for the 2021-2025 royalty period (the "Web V Proceedings"). On June 13, 2021, the CRB announced that the Webcasting royalty rates for 2021 would be increasing to $0.0026 per performance for subscription services and $0.0021 per performance for non-subscription services, in addition to an increased minimum annual fee of $1,000 per each channel or station. All fees are subject to annual cost-of-living increases throughout the 2021-2025 fee period.