The deals come on the heels of an announcement earlier this month that a payment formula for "pureplay" services, whose main business is streaming music, had been reached after more than two years of private negotiations. See CongressDaily story here(subscription required). The agreements were negotiated under the Webcaster Settlement Act, which gave SoundExchange the authority to negotiate alternative rates and terms to those set by the Copyright Royalty Board in 2007.

House Foreign Chairman Howard Berman, whose previous leadership on the House Judiciary intellectual property subcommittee was instrumental in bringing negotiators together, cheered the new agreements. "I want to thank all the people who spent long hours in my office working towards a solution that works for artists, webcasters, and most importantly music fans. It was worth every moment to ensure that new technologies recognize that creators should have the opportunity to thrive," he said in a statement.