Rift over royalties - A bill to make radio stations pay singers divides black artists, leaders

Chicago Tribune ^ | August 26, 2009 | Dahleen Glanton

[a fool in paradise]

"...The artists deserve it, ...With things the way they are today, everybody needs every little penny they can get."

...Radio personalities such as Tom Joyner, whose "Tom Joyner Morning Show" is owned by Radio One Inc., a black-owned conglomerate, oppose the bill, generating support from their vast listening audiences....

There is also a division within the civil rights community. The NAACP recently passed a resolution supporting the bill, while activists Al Sharpton, whose radio show is syndicated by Radio One, and Jesse Jackson, whose show is syndicated by a subsidiary of Clear Channel Corp., oppose it...

The bill's sponsor, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and other supporters contend that it would help to right the wrongs of the past, particularly for African-American artists, many of whom were financially exploited by record companies early in their careers and are struggling financially in retirement.

Critics such as Cathy Hughes... have called the bill a "performance tax" that would lead to the demise of black-oriented radio stations that are barely staying afloat in this sagging economy...

"When we came into the business back in 1958, there were very few artists who had their own publishing companies or recording companies... The record companies would take you to the back of the studio to record and maybe give you a car, but you never got paid..."

"...For 70 years, terrestrial radio has had this exemption and has been able to build their business without paying the performers," Rogers said. "There are 10,000 radio stations in the country, so this is not a whole lot of money per station. "But in aggregate, it could be a substantial sum for the artists."

"This bill is geared too much toward the record labels that will control the money, so it's really big business against big business." (Sharpton!)

[a fool in paradise]

Play old Caruso records. Charlie Patton.

We can step on up through the years. The corporations don't own everything. Some music IS public domain in this country.

[a fool in paradise]

The artist who isn’t seeing anything from the publishing side of his songs may not be seeing anything from the album sales either. But this isn’t the fault of radio.

[SandyLynn]

I work in radio for a LIVING..and I can tell you that as a small market station, we’d be out of business in a heartbeat..our community would not support an all-talk station. To me, the argument the artists have should be with ASCAP or their record companies..not radio! And hey artists..how would you sell records if you had no radio airplay?? When no radio stations remain that play music, you won’t sell anything! Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face, c’mon!

[SkyPilot]

A truck driver drives his truck from A to B and is paid. He doesn’t get paid many times, he just gets paid once. A brick layer gets paid to build a wall. Once. A baker is paid once for a loaf of bread. Only once. A McDonalds worker gets paid once for each hour she works. Only once. So why should artists get paid over and over and over and over and over again forever and ever for the work they produce? This makes no sense.

Stop making sense! You are going to tick off all the Democrats!

[The Toll]

I’m not in support of the bill and I am a musician. That being said, your question to artist about selling their records without airplay is honestly not a concern to us any longer.

Commercial FM stations have completely abandoned their traditional role as providers of “new” music to the public. If they ever become relevant again and consider playing artists from the current decade we may support their endeavors.

In the meantime I am a little ambivalent as to how many retirement checks they may be forced to send to AC/DC, U2, or Pearl Jam.