Ugh, Poetry: T'was The Night Before Recess
The good folks at Edelman who do the flacking for the musicFirst coalition must have spiked their office party eggnog. The group, which wants AM and FM radio stations to pay royalties to artists, has released a "T'was The Night Before Recess" holiday poem and it just begged to be blogged.
The coalition, which is backed by the Recording Industry Association of America and others, sent the poem to Capitol Hill on Wednesday. They are obviously still celebrating Tuesday's introduction of legislation in both chambers, which could be summed up as their biggest Christmas wish. Read more in Technology Daily's PM Edition.
The lengthy poem, penned to the cadence of "T'was the Night Before Christmas," can be read after the jump. No word yet on whether the National Association of Broadcasters will create rebuttal prose. NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton is pretty good at whipping up snarky comebacks so I'm sure he's hard at work.
T’was the Night Before Recess
T’was the night before recess in the Senate and House;
As our leaders worked hard to correct a great louse.
A fair performance right danced in their mind;
They could no longer leave the artists behind.
The time for a change was painfully clear;
Performers have been ignored for 50 plus years.
The copyright loophole needed to be fixed;
It wasn’t fair that their talent and hard work was continuously nixed.
Why are artists not paid when their music is played?
Shouldn’t radio be held to the very same grade?
Satellite, Internet and cable all see;
Without the music, where would they be?
The Senate and House held hearings to learn;
And better understand the artists’ concern.
First in the House they heard from Sam and Judy;
Oh how quickly the broadcasters became moody.
Onto the Senate were Alice and Lyle;
Where Alice wowed them with her acoustic style.
The artists’ argument was more than sincere;
It’s their hard work we lovingly hear.
Performers like these bring music to life;
Yet still, NAB continues this strife.
“We promote the artists,” they continually say;
As they cash their large checks at the end of the day.
It’s music that drives the radio’s ad revenue;
How is it that artists should not receive their fair due?
Out on the horizon two great heroes appeared;
Mssrs. Berman and Leahy who the NAB feared:
“We’ll make this right, we close the loophole;
Our colleagues in Congress we will work and cajole.”
.
With wisdom and clarity legislation was crafted;
Ignoring poison pills that were floated and drafted.
Some will receive special considerations;
Like small, religious, and noncommercial stations.
It’s time to remove this long standing flaw;
This amendment will change the copyright law;
Then Hatch and Issa and Corker and others;
Joined to do the right thing as taught by their mothers.
Our Members of Congress have heard from both sides;
We have complete confidence that fairness resides.
As we look ahead to a sparkling New Year;
We hope your holidays are full of good cheer.
In 2008, we’ll continue our fight;
It’s only fair that artists receive a performance right.
Categories:
Humor
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