Aguilera, others want radio royalties
June 18th, 2007 by Sam
A coalition of singers, music companies and industry groups stated that they will want from radios compensation of performers, whose music is played on the radio.
The music FIRST coalition that includes artists such as Christina Aguilera, Wyclef Jean, Don Henley and Celine Dion intends to lobby Congress to create new laws organizing payments by broadcasters.
The coalition representatives said that every singer from superstar vocalists to background singers deserve to be paid for their work and the right to air their songs on the radio.
“The artists and the musicians and the community in general has come together to say now is really time to make sure that when music is played on the radio, that people who perform that music are paid fairly to do it”, Mark Kadish, the coalition’s executive director, said during a conference call with reporters.
Previous attempts to change the law met with a failure. The coalition told that it’s too early to say what the payment should be.
The National Association of Broadcasters, which represents more than 8,000 radio and television stations, is vowing to fight the campaign, saying royalties for performers amount to a tax on U.S. radio stations.
“Congress has long recognized that radio airplay of music generates millions of dollars in revenue for record labels and artists”, Dennis Wharton, the broadcasters group’s executive vice president, said in a statement.
“Were it not for radio’s free promotional airplay of music on stations all over America, most successful recording artists would still be playing in a garage”, he said.
Martha Reeves of the 1960s group Martha & the Vandellas said that the success of singers doesn’t necessarily depends on playing the songs on radio.
“I might have music that’s as old as 25 years now being played daily, and that doesn’t mean someone is going to go out and buy my CD or my record”, Reeves said.
Radio broadcasters, however, are required to pay performers only if their songs are played on the Internet during simulcasts or streaming.
Now it’s up to the Congress to decide whether to change the law or leave the things as before.