Turntable.fm eases licensing concerns with BMI and ASCAP agreements

It’s emerged out of nowhere to become one of the coolest sites on the Web in a matter of weeks and today, Turntable.fm‘s future is sounding pretty sweet. It’s just locked down an agreement with BMI, covering the use of BMI’s repertoire of more than 6.5 million works in the U.S., according to an announcement by Richard Conlon, BMI Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Communications & New Media. After Turntable.fm’s agreement yesterday with ASCAP, it has successfully signed deals with the two biggest music publishing companies in the U.S.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement that guarantees the more than 475,000 songwriters, composers and copyright owners BMI represents receive fair compensation for their creative efforts,” said Conlon. “This agreement is yet another step in our long tradition of breaking new ground in licensing music for digital distribution.”

We first wrote about Turntable.fm before it was banned outside of the U.S. We pointed out that as it grows bigger, licensing is likely to become a big issue. With Spotify’s recent entrance into the U.S. and the young Turntable.fm locking down deals in its early days, it seems that the big guys in the music industry are finally embracing the digital music scene.