Posted on 02/18/2010 5:10:19 PM PST by a fool in paradise
Musicians and recording studios sent a letter to Capitol Hill this morning blasting broadcasters' latest advertising campaign.
The letter, sent to all members, is the latest jab in a long-running battle over royalties. The music industry wants broadcasters to pay singers and performers a royalty for playing their songs on the air. Broadcasters call the royalty a "tax" and say airing the music is free promotion for the artists.
Currently, only songwriters receive royalties. But as the music industry struggles more than ever to recoup costs in the midst of plummeting CD sales, singers and bands say they deserve a cut of the payments as well.
The Recording Industry Association of America, Music Managers Forum, American Association of Independent Music, and others say the promotional value of radio airplay has declined dramatically because audiences now get their music from so many other sources.
The Judiciary Committees of both chambers have passed the Performance Rights Act that would require broadcasters to pay the additional royalties. The National Association of Broadcasters has stepped up its lobbying and advertising campaigns on the airwaves to prevent the bill from moving forward.
NAB is also asking members to sign a resolution called the Local Radio Freedom Act.
Congress directed NAB and musicFirst, a coalition of studios and artists, to meet privately to try to work out an agreement.
"Is there any legitimate reason why broadcasters should be able to build a business using our music without our being paid or at least having the right to say no thanks?" the musicFirst letter asked. "The answer, of course, is no."
And what of the recordings that "recouped costs" decades ago (that would have been public domain if Big Media had not lobbied Congress to change copyright laws)?
When I was a kid, we had payola. It worked the other way around. I’m fine with turning all the music radio stations into “rightwing” talk radio stations.
Less music stations, more talk radio.
The radio stations should charge the performers a promotional fee equal to the royalties.
What a way to kill music radio!
Wow - a liberal group is opposed to new taxes? That is news....
when they said “Eat the Rich”, they weren’t talking about themselves.....
Is this where I go on my rant about those moronic talk radio ads?
I understand that they have to support themselves, as they don't have the benefits that NPR has, but, gawd their advertisers clearly are convinced (and who knows what the demographics show) that listeners are myopic, gullible idiots.
Someone even called "Red Eye Radio" -- whose motto is "We'll talk about ANYTHING" -- this morning, and starts on the advertisers. And the host says, "Nah, we're not going to talk about the advertisers."
I'm glad we have Rush Limbaugh, believe me, but let's not pretent it's not a two-edged sword.
No one ever is.
The RIAA is the worst thing to happen to the music industry....Makes me glad I don’t listen to the junk or “music radio” I listen to my CD collection and talk radio in the car....
Screw the songwriters, singers, publishers and anyone else in the chain. I haven’t paid for music in years, and never will again. Call it stealing if you want, but it’s never been worth paying for
Our government shouldn’t be involved in the entertainment industry including sports. Each performer signs a contract on the front end. That’s where their share of the pie should be determined.
The entertainment industry has one of the most powerful lobbying groups near Washington DC.
What they always fail to mention is
. Total music purchases were up 2.1 percent over 2008, as ‘09 brought in 1.545 billion overall music sales — which factors in albums, singles, digital tracks and music videos — compared to the 1.513 billion combined in 2008.
I can't believe anything they say
The MSM doesn’t want to acknowledge that the audience is diversifying. People no longer get their news from print journalism or the evening news.
They no longer look at Billboard to find good music either. The “best sellers” sell lower numbers but more artists in total are having healthy careers. And thousands of those artists have no interest in signing with one of the handful of major labels.
Let the singers say no thanks! It just seems to me that common sense (Iknow, I know) would dictate that radio stations would just go out of business rather than pay a tax. Who are they going to raise it from? I don’t listen to radio usless I’m in the truck or the weather is bad.
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