Bill Virgin's Radio Beat May 31, 2007

Includes archive of Bill Virgin's columns fromJ une 2006 - March 2009

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat May 31, 2007

Postby radiofan » Wed May 30, 2007 6:26 pm

On Radio: More static for broadcasters: Now performers want royalties too
By BILL VIRGIN
P-I REPORTER


As if one fight over royalty rights wasn't enough, now the radio industry finds itself wityet another battle over whether, or how much, it should pay for the music it plays.

Traditional over-the-air radio stations that also stream their broadcasts over the Web, as well as Internet-only "stations," already are in a fight over a decision by the Copyright Royalties Board to increase payments for music played via webcasts.

Now broadcasters are facing a battle with a coalition of organizations representing musicians and performers who say radio stations ought to be paying them for over-the-air distribution of their songs.

Radio stations already pay royalties -- but they go to the composers or publishers, through such organizations as ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. A local station group executive estimates royalty payments amount to 3.8 percent of revenues.

Stations don't make payments, however, to the artists who actually perform the songs or the record labels. The broadcasting industry contends that they do get benefit from that airplay even if it's not in the form of a check.

"For the past 70 years, a symbiotic relationship has existed between radio and the recording industry," says a letter from National Association of Broadcasters President David Rehr to members of Congress. "Radio has prospered with the use of recorded music, and record labels and performers have benefited from airplay and other promotional activities of local broadcasters.

"From this free airplay, the recording industry enjoys increased popularity, visibility and record sales. ... The existing system actually provides the epitome of fairness for all parties: free music for free promotion." The NAB also argues that Congress has rejected previous attempts to impose royalties to be paid to artists and performers. "The system in place today adequately compensates everyone."

But a coalition of groups -- the American Association of Independent Music, the American Federation of Musicians, the Music Managers Forum, the Recording Academy, the Recording Artists' Coalition, the Recording Industry Association of America and Sound Exchange -- has sent its own letter to Congress with a somewhat different take on the issue. While the broadcasters call the proposed royalties a "performance tax," the coalition calls the exemption "the corporate radio loophole."

"For too long Corporate Radio has received a free pass to play music over-the-air without compensating the artists," the coalition's letter says. "Radio is a highly profitable industry because it uses the outstanding performances created by artists to attract listeners, which in turn attracts advertisers."

The coalition notes that other countries require over-the-air broadcasters to pay royalties to performers, and Internet, cable and satellite radio in the U.S. already do.

The royalties issue already has prompted some interesting debating points when it comes to webcasting. When both Web-only and traditional broadcasters said higher royalty rates threatened to quash Internet radio as a medium, U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act to roll back the proposed increases.

Now the Musicians' Association of Seattle, the local chapter of the American Federation of Musicians, has sent a letter to Inslee criticizing him for the legislation.

"The act, as written, blatantly ignores the needs of musicians," the letter says. "Our members work very hard to produce the music that everyone enjoys. They depend on various streams of income to make ends meet, including royalties from webcasting. ... Webcasting is fast becoming a very profitable business and is here to stay regardless of the false rhetoric you are hearing. Meanwhile, musicians continue to struggle. There is a general sense that music should be had for free or very cheap. Our members would consider that an insult to them, their creativity and their passion."

In other radio notes:

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna takes listener calls on "Weekday" at 9 a.m. today on KUOW-FM (94.9).

Monster Defiance Headquarters performs on "Sonarchy" at midnight Saturday on KEXP-FM (90.3).

Lizz Sommars' guests on "Conversations" at 6 a.m. Sunday on KISW-FM (99.9) and KKWF-FM (100.7) include Courtney Martin, author of a book on eating disorders, "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters."

The Sunday edition of Jim French's "Imagination Theatre," heard at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday on KIXI-AM (880), includes a new installment in its series of Western adventures.

P-I reporter Bill Virgin can be reached at 206-448-8319 or billvirgin@seattlepi.com.

Bill Virgin's Radio Beat ... every Thursday in the Seattle P-I
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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