BIPARTISAN SENATE GROUP PUSHES PAY-FOR-PLAY AT RADIO

A bipartisan Congressional group is putting a new spin on “pay-for-play” by reintroducing the American Music Fairness Act, which would force broadcasters to pay artists for playing their music, in addition to songwriters, who are already compensated.

The act would bring rules for broadcast in line with those already in place for digital broadcasters and streamers. Sound Exchange estimates that musicians lose an average of $200m per year in royalties as a result of the current setup.

Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. threw his support behind the proposal, issuing a statement that reads, “For more than a century, American artists and producers have been denied the basic right to earn compensation for their own creation broadcast on AM/FM radio. We urge Congress to finally pay creators for their work.”

Bill co-sponsor Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told the New York Post, “The United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not paid for the use of their music on AM and FM radio. This legislation would close an outdated loophole that has allowed corporate broadcasters to take advantage of artists and their songs for decades.”

For its part, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters opposes the proposal, stating, “This legislation would impose a new, performance royalty on local radio stations on top of the huge [songwriter] royalties that our local radio stations already pay. Such additional royalties could potentially financially cripple many local radio stations and harm the millions of listeners who rely on local radio for news, emergency information, weather updates and entertainment.”

Blackburn has been joined by Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) in sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, which has been considered in Congress twice before.