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The Fund will make a special distribution on May 15, 2013, based on a settlement with certain major record companies of all audit claims through 2011. Under the terms of the settlement, the amount is required to be treated as if it had been received by the Fund in 10 equal amounts over the years 2002 – 2011, and is payable to musicians whom were eligible for a payment for those distribution years.

For more detailed information regarding the special distribution, see a copy of the Fund’s letter below that will accompany each participating musician’s payment.

May 15, 2013

Dear Participating Musician:

The Sound Recording Special Payments Fund (“Fund”) is pleased to enclose a check that represents your portion of a special distribution resulting from a payment of monies to the Fund by the major record companies in settlement of all audit claims through 2011, which was received at the end of 2012.¹

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, $7,785,000 was paid to the Fund, and is required to be treated as if it had been received by the Fund in equal amounts over the years 2002 – 2011. The total amount allocable to each year (after deducting the Fund’s portion of payroll taxes and expenses) is $701,000, payable to individuals who received a distribution in any of those years and is based on the percentage that his or her distribution bore to the total distribution for that year (consistent with the Fund’s regular annual distribution method).

As an example, if a musician’s percentage of the total distribution for 2003 was 0.0005, his or her portion of the special distribution for 2003 will be that same percentage ($701,000 x 0.0005 = $350.50). The enclosed check represents your total portion of this special distribution, which is based on the years in which you were eligible for a payment as covered by the settlement (2002 - 2011).²

I encourage you to visit our website, sound-recording.org. There you will find a link (Money Owed Musicians) that lists musicians entitled to this special distribution whom we have been unable to locate. Since you may know some of them (see the 2013 column), we encourage you to review the list and to inform any you may know that the Fund has a special distribution for them.

Warmest regards,

V. Robert DiPaola

V. Robert DiPaola
Fund Administrator

¹Specifically, the parties to the settlement agreement are the Fund, American Federation of Musicians, Music Performance Fund, Warner Bros. Records, Inc., Atlantic Recording Corporation, Rhino Entertainment Company, Word Entertainment LLC, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Inc., Hollywood Records, Capitol Records, LLC and EMI Christian Music Group, Inc.

²Because the minimum amount required by the Fund for a distribution is $25, musicians whose portion of the total special distribution was below that amount will not receive a distribution.