“They’ve gotten 50-some years of free play, now maybe it’s time to pay up.”
No doubt looking for any way it can shore up decreasing revenue amid slumping CD sales, the RIAA and several artists’ groups are nor going after radio broadcasters to collect additional royalties from aired music.
“The creation of music is suffering because of declining sales,” said RIAA Chief Executive Mitch Bainwol. “We clearly have a more difficult time tolerating gaps in revenues that should be there.”
Radio broadcasters already compensate composers and publishers but, never before have they had to pay royalties to artists or record labels. Since the airplay of albums spurs sales, they have long enjoyed a federal exemption that allows them to avoid paying any royalties.
“Congress has always recognized that broadcasters generate enormous sums of revenue to record companies and artists in terms of airplay,” said NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton. Radio stations also have public-interest obligations that satellite and Internet broadcasters don’t have to worry about, he said.
The politically powerful Radio broadcasters association (NAB) have previously been able to kill any attempt to repeal the federal exemption but, with satellite and internet radio broadcasters being forced to pay “public performance royalties” and web broadcasters recently being ordered to pay increased royalty rates, there isn’t much sympathy for radio being allowed to pay less than its “fair” share.
“Most of the artists in the world are kind of middle-class cats, trying to piece together a living,” said Jonatha Brooke, a singer-songwriter who is part of the Recording Artists Coalition advocacy group. “It’s important to be recognized and paid for our work.”
“After so many years of not being compensated, it would be nice now at this late date to at least start,” the 63-year-old Las Vegas resident said in Milwaukee, where she was performing at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. “They’ve gotten 50-some years of free play. Now maybe it’s time to pay up.”
Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village), chair of the House subcommittee dealing with intellectual property law, said that “Given the many different ways to promote music now that didn’t exist as effectively when this original exemption was made,” he said, “the logic of that I think is more dubious.”
This may prove to be an important development in the ongoing Sirius and XM satellite merger talks for it may it be able to break up the singular focus of the NAB’s extensive resources and allow the merger deal to go through.
Also, this development really puts everybody on notice that the RIAA will leave no stone unturned when it comes to tracking down and finding very nickel and dime it feels that it’s owed.
More importantly, it’s nice to finally see one overbearing lobbying group go after another overbearing lobbying group instead of the consumer for a change.
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Wow. These guys are absolutely out to destroy their own industry. That was pretty clear before but now it’s just obvious.
How they ever became successful in the first place is beyond me.
They seem to be trying to literally piss everyone off now.
Seems to me that they’ve got it backwards. The artists have been getting free advertising for 50 years might be time for them to pony up to get airtime like the rest of us who would like to be heard on the radio. I mean if I wanted to say Bush sucks on air I’d have to buy time. If I made a movie and wanted to sell it I’d have to buy airtime or pay my actors to get interviewed. If the RIAA wants a change they may get it…or they may get what their greedy butts deserve extinction.
of course this means more commercials on the radio now to cover the increasing costs of air-time. im glad i stopped listening to the radio years ago. pathetic.
If radio stations really want to put up a protest they should switch to independent labels that don’t work under the RIAA as much as possible. Then once artists realize they are not getting any air time under the RIAA banner they will switch to be independent literally killing the RIAA.
It be nice if the RIAA did go after the stations. The stations would change a different tune and RIAA will lose millions of revenue do to no one hearing any cd singles on the radio. Albums would come out on Tuesday and it wont even be announced other then the artist website.
@shawners
Yap if anything it would stop radio stations from playing all that crappy pop music on rotation. If they have to finally “pay per play” then maybe theyd be a bit choosier in what they play….
Exactly! Terrestrial (traditional) radio AND SATELLITE stations alike should play only independent artists or those established artists who no longer are slaves of the record companies. What a lot of nerve! Wanting to be paid by someone who is promoting their materials. If they REALLY want to lose profits this is the way to go: no more airplay. How the heck do they think we hear their product in the first place? I say: put them out of business permantly. Their “product” (physical C.D.’s) is a dinosaur and artists don’t need them anymore.
Simple Radio should quit playing all RIAA endorsed music artists and let them figure out why CD sales even get even worse. This is so stupid. There are enough independent artists that would appreciate the air play. Without radio and video air play the RIAA would go belly up. I don’t buy anything I don’t hear or see first. Cd’s are too expensive to take chances.