Monday, February 23, 2009

Music Stars Rally For Radio Royalty

The halls of Congress will be crawling with celebrities Tuesday as Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers make a push for legislation they introduced that would end a longstanding copyright royalty exemption granted to AM and FM radio stations. The afternoon MusicFirst Coalition rally will feature an impressive line-up of stars including: Will.i.am; Sheryl Crow; Herbie Hancock; Emmylou Harris; Patti LaBelle; Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty and Dionne Warwick. The event will formally kick off the group's campaign to "close the corporate radio loophole and establish a fair performance right on radio for American artists."

The Judiciary chairmen will also be joined by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, House Oversight and Government Reform ranking member Darrell Issa and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., as well as Recording Academy President Neil Portnow. The National Association of Broadcasters and the Free Radio Alliance earlier this month launched their public outreach campaign opposing the legislation. At that briefing, Texas Reps. Gene Green, a Democrat, and Mike Conaway, a Republican, unveiled a resolution that had 110 cosponsors aimed at preserving local radio from the imposition of new royalty rates or fees. Read more about that effort here.

"NAB welcomes an honest debate over whether radio stations or the record labels have historically been a 'better friend' to musicians," spokesman Dennis Wharton said Monday. "Since the days of Count Basie, there have been two constants in music: free radio airplay has propelled the financial success of countless performers, and those same artists have been systematically abused by the labels. For RIAA to now use artists as a shield in their quest for a performance tax is utterly cynical and hypocritical."