The Bulgarian National Radio has been unable to play contemporary music since January 1, 2017, Director General of BNR Alexander Velev announced. Alexander Velev explained that Musicautor which manages the copyrights of composers and record labels unilaterally suspended its contract with the BNR and banned it from playing much of the contemporary Bulgarian and foreign music. Under those circumstances the Bulgarian National Radio will be able to play classical music, jazz and authentic folklore music on its archive, because its prescription has already expired. The Bulgarian National Radio is not against the payment of money for copyrights. It is against Musicautor’s demand that the amount of money paid by the BNR for copyrights should be three times higher, Alexander Velev further said and called on the music composers and lyrics writers to grant their copyrights to the Bulgarian National Radio. The Council for Electronic Media urged the BNR and Musicautor to resume negotiations.