The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and music rights management organisation APRA AMCOS have announced the rollout of Music Recognition Technology (MRT) which will soon track songs played on air at 100 community radio stations across Australia.
Under this significant technological upgrade, more Australian songwriters and music creators will soon see their community radio airplay recognised. MRT is forecast to be a game-changer and will enable APRA AMCOS to track the songs played on-air more effectively, with greater efficiency and making it easier for licensee stations.
CBAA CEO Jon Bisset explains: ‘Supporting our members is always our number one priority. Time and resources are valuable commodities at community radio stations, so we’re excited to roll out the Music Recognition Technology, make reporting easier for our stations, as well as give music creators more accurate earnings insights.’
MRT will operate 24/7 and is designed to streamline the reporting requirements for APRA AMCOS. MRT matches the audio fingerprints of songs played – using a condensed digital summary of audio signals to quickly identify a song. It is anticipated to process almost nine times more broadcast hours, reducing the labour of manual reporting requirements and allowing station staff and volunteers to focus more on programming and connecting with their audiences.
With stations spanning rural, regional and metro areas playing a range of genres, MRT is expected to vastly increase the accuracy of airplay reports for a wide variety of Australian songwriters and music creators. Over 500 services in the community broadcasting sector will soon be able to track Australian music played on their stations.
The rollout of MRT has already begun. The next APRA AMCOS reporting phase will be run both manually and with MRT to cross-check for accuracy in the technology. CBAA and APRA AMCOS endeavour to have all reporting requirements automated through MRT by the end of June 2025.
For more information, visit https://www.cbaa.org.au/
[Photo: APRA member band ‘BAD//DREEMS ‘performing at 2024 APRA Music Awards].