Fuzzy Math For Music Royalties?
The chairman of Greater Media, which owns 23 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, Philadelphia and New Jersey, is appealing to Web surfers who happen upon his "From The Corner Office" column to fight a forthcoming effort in Congress that would end an longstanding copyright royalty exemption granted to companies like his. In a open letter titled "Radio Needs your Help....Yes, You," Peter Smyth warns that the "performance tax has once again reared its ugly head" and the result could cost the radio industry between $400 million and $7 billion per year.
"There will be claims that this is a question of fairness and the money is needed to help recording artists. The fact is that the record companies - not individual artists - will be the primary beneficiaries of a performance tax on radio," Smyth writes. "The same companies who denied, resisted and ultimately blew their business in the transition to digital delivery now want to dig into the pockets of radio to save their skins." The bill's passage would force "a wholesale rethinking of our station's formats, our staffing, our ability to contribute to our communities, and how we run our business," he said.
One proponent of the legislation, which is expected to be introduced in the House soon, emailed to point out that the National Association of Broadcasters and its allies have heretofore quoted a $4-7 billion statistic. The $4 billion would be 25 percent of revenue; $7 billion would be 44 percent of revenue. Compared to what some have estimated to be the "real world" impact (around 3-7 percent since in the United States, songwriters get just under 3 percent), Smyth's message is off-kilter, the email said. "Either the new $400 million number is a bow to reality or a tacit admission that they know not of what they speak."
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