The House and Senate Judiciary Committees likely will hold hearin...
The House and Senate Judiciary Committees likely will hold hearings on whether radio stations should pay royalties to musicians, MusicFirst Coalition Exec. Dir. Mark Kadesh told us. The Coalition, unveiled Thurs., wants to force broadcasters to pay performers royalties.…
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Radio stations now only pay royalties to composers -- an arrangement unfair to artists who don’t get paid for use of their works, according to Kadesh and other Coalition members. Satellite radio and webcasters do pay such fees, mandated in most other countries, Coalition members said. Kadesh has no media industry experience to help him in his new job, but his decade-plus of Hill experience and working with experts will help persuade legislators a new law is needed, he said. NAB declared it will fight efforts by Coalition member RIAA to “tax… local radio stations.” NAB said “Congress has long recognized that radio airplay of music generates millions of dollars in revenue for record labels and artists.” RIAA Chmn. Mitch Bainwol told us that NAB’s characterization of artist royalties as a tax is “silly” because “we are the only country, we are the only platform… that isn’t compensated for copyright” use. The U.S. is “an exception that sticks out like a sore thumb,” he said. Musicians and other speakers on a conference call about the Coalition offered few specifics about how they'll persuade legislators to rewrite copyright law, besides saying it’s the fair thing to do.