Pelosi Voices Support For Performance Rights
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thursday voiced support for trying to make progress on the music industry's call for musicians to be paid when their music is played on AM and FM radio stations.
"In coming to Congress today, you are sending a message too often lost outside the recording studio, in the political debate, or on the airwaves - that ideas, music, and imagination are as valuable as any material invention. And artists deserve to be compensated for their work and rewarded for their contributions to our economy and our culture," Pelosi said during the music industry's GRAMMY on the Hill advocacy day event on Capitol Hill. She added that she looks forward to working with key lawmakers to "find a way forward on the issue of performers' rights."
The music industry is pushing lawmakers to pass performance rights legislation, which would require AM and FM radio stations to pay musicians a fee when their music is played on the air. Both the House and Senate Judiciary committees have passed the legislation but the leaders of those panels have urged the two sides to try to reach a compromise.
The industry, however, has attracted a powerful supporter for their cause: Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin, D-Ill., signed on this week as a co-sponsor to the Senate version of the performance rights bill.
Broadcasters oppose the legislation, saying it would place a financial burden on struggling local radio stations. They also argue that musicians already benefit from the exposure they receive from radio airplay. They have attracted significant congressional support for resolutions introduced in both chambers opposing the performance rights legislation. More than 250 House members and more than two dozen senators have signed on to the resolutions.
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