White House Pushing For Radio Performance Royalty
The Obama Administration is pushing for legislation to ensure artists are paid when their sound recordings are played over the radio. The recommendation came earlier this week as part of a white paper released by White House U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel. The 20-page memo was sent to Congress.
This ongoing debate about the performance royalty has been a hot-button issue in the music business in recent years. Radio stations and their trade group the National Association of Broadcasters have been fighting the royalty, arguing that playing the artist’s music is free advertisement for the act, which in turn drives sales. Meanwhile, record labels and artists have been arguing to have the performance royalty instituted, arguing that without music to play, radio stations wouldn’t attract as many listeners.
Another key point in the new white paper, is a recommendation to make illegal streaming a felony offense.
This issue is quite a hot button, indeed. I work at a very small, low budget LPFM radio station. We are not currently streaming our signal for the very reason that we can’t afford to pay the exorbitant fees required by the big record labels.
I find myself rather torn between wanting to make sure that the performers get a fair shake, when it comes to the money they make on their music, and not wanting to see the big record labels reaping in money hand over fist through our promoting their records.
I have heard from a number of people who tell me that most of the actual money that the labels receive goes to the record companies and not the artists.
It seems to me that, once again, more and more money goes into the pockets of the big corporations, and the people who need it most see little to none of it.
Janus Ian said that the only money that she makes on her music is on her concerts, not her albums.
I also don’t see why radio stations that play the music over the air, and not on the net should be forced to pay record companies to, in effect, advertise their products.
and then I wonder why the same thing isn’t true for the people who are playing music over the net.
It is still advertising the music to people. It doesn’t matter how they hear the music, it still gives them a chance to hear music that they otherwise wouldn’t hear.
Do you get the idea that I can’t make up my mind how I should feel about this.