Just happened across this. It must be a progressive move. Conyers is among the backers. Also, in the last excerpted graph it points out that it will cost America jobs, as well as free music on the radio.
If I were to compare the current music industry to a movie, it would have to be something like “2012” (2009), “The Day After Tomorrow” (2004) or some other similar end-of-the-world flick. The industry always seems to be in some sort of upheaval as new technology emerges, the way people listen to music changes and traditional record labels move closer to becoming obsolete. The latest game changer is legislation that, if passed, could deal a devastating blow to radio stations.
House Resolution 848, the Performance Rights Act, would require terrestrial radio broadcasters to pay royalties to performers — including backup singers and musicians — for playing their songs. Currently, terrestrial stations only pay royalties to songwriters. Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels, on the other hand, pay royalties to both performers and songwriters.
The musicFIRST Coalition, an alliance of organizations representing performers, recording artists, managers, industry representatives and other advocates, held a news conference on March 2 in Washington, D.C., to encourage Congress to move forward with the bill.
According to the Associated Press, the bill, which was introduced about a year ago and which has been approved by the House and Senate Judiciary committees, is sponsored by House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. After the press conference, Conyers talked about the injustice of performers not receiving compensation for radio stations’ use of their work.
“They work and they don’t get paid,” Conyers told several news outlets. “That’s involuntary servitude. They don’t even get any choice of whether they want to work or not — they just take their work product.”
Many radio stations, however, claim that they would not be able to cope financially with the new costs. According to research conducted by the BIA/Kelsey firm, average radio station revenue decreased by 18 percent between 2008 and 2009. Although the bill would implement a flat annual fee instead of requiring payment of royalties for those stations with gross annual revenue under $1.25 million, many believe that the added fee would run local radio stations out of business and result in employee layoffs.