For decades, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) has taken the lead in negotiating and administering systemwide music licensing agreements on behalf of public media. These collective agreements save stations millions of dollars each year and spare them the administrative challenges of managing individual contracts.
Until recently, music usage rights for public radio stations, including KISU, were uncertain beyond December 31, 2025. That uncertainty threatened not only KISU’s locally produced music programs but also the use of music in production elements, program breaks, and even nationally syndicated shows. Before CPB’s announcement, KISU considered pausing local music programming production while it sought to join a collective that would negotiate and administer music licensing agreements.
On October 29, CPB announced that it had reached new three-year agreements with the five major performing rights organizations—ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, the Harry Fox Agency, and Global Music Rights—ensuring continued music use across public media platforms through December 31, 2027. In addition, CPB has agreed to cover the first two years of an upcoming renewal with SoundExchange, securing digital performance rights for public radio through the same date. PBS and NPR will administer these rights going forward.
In a letter to CPB grant recipients, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison wrote that “these new agreements reflect CPB’s continued stewardship of federal funds on behalf of local stations and our commitment to sustaining the essential services that bind our communities together through music and storytelling.”
Despite reductions to CPB’s FY25 funding under the Recissions Act of 2025, the organization distributed a final round of support to local stations this fall, prioritizing rural and tribal licensees. KISU received approximately $12,500 from the late-September distributions—less than 10 percent of its FY25 award, but both unexpected and appreciated.
Harrison also confirmed that CPB continues to wind down its operations but reaffirmed its central purpose. “CPB’s mission remains the same: to strengthen and advance public media’s ability to serve the American people,” she said.
