New Issue, New Grassroots Group
What do you do when Congress tackles a new issue that promises to be a hot topic among feuding industries? You start a grassroots group, of course. On Tuesday, local radio broadcasters, minority groups, non-profits and others formed the Free Radio Alliance to oppose what they see as a "performance tax" being pushed by the recording industry.
The announcement coincided with the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property examination of whether musicians should be paid when their songs are broadcast over AM and FM radio, which is the norm when their work is played on satellite, cable and Internet radio.
"More than half of the proposed performance tax would go to line the pockets of the record-label conglomerates, three out of four which are headquartered in other countries," said Free Radio spokeswoman Cathy Rought. "The record labels are desperately looking for financial help to support their failing business model, and they are doing so at the expense of local communities across the country."
Victims of the so-called tax would include smaller, specialized radio stations "that serve as the cultural lifeline to numerous religious, Hispanic, African American and other niche communities," Rought said in a press release.
Read more about the alliance here and read Technology Daily's coverage of the hearing here.
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