On March 10, 2009, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Public Performance Right for Sound Recordings, which featured testimony from folks on all sides of the issue, including one bona fide rock star (no, President Obama didn’t stop by).
Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins joined Mitch Bainwol (Chairman and CEO, RIAA), Paul Almeida (President, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO), W. Lawrence Patrick (President, Patrick Communications), Stan Liebowitz, Ph.D. (Ashbel Smith Distinguished Professor of Managerial Economics, University of Texas at Dallas) and Steve Newbury (Chairman of the Radio Board, National Association of Broadcasters) to present their views on the Public Performance Right.
Read the testimony here.
This performance right, which FMC supports, would pay performing artists and sound copyright owners for the use of their music on terrestrial radio. Here’s an example: if you hear Aretha Franklin’s version of “Respect” on U.S. radio, only the songwriter (Otis Redding) and the publisher receive payment; Aretha (and her label) are left out. Compare that with the situation in just about every other industrialized nation, where performing artists receive payment for the use of their work on over-the-air broadcasts. It’s also important to remember that satellite radio, webcasters and cable TV already have a performance right, which pays 45 percent directly to the performing artists, 50 percent to the sound copyright owner (usually the label, but sometimes the artist) and five percent to the backing musicians. Terrestrial radio only pays the songwriters and publishers, which gives them an unfair advantage over emerging music services.
FMC understands the concerns of non-commercial broadcasters and small commercial stations about what a performance right might mean to their bottom lines. FMC is a huge supporter of non-com radio, and we want commercial radio to thrive as well - both hold important keys to localism and musical culture. We also recognize that not all radio stations have the same ability to pay. Under the proposed legislation, if a commercial station makes less than $1.25 million in revenue in a year, it will pay a maximum fee of $5,000. And any public broadcasting entity, religious broadcaster or noncom educational station would pay a maximum of $1,000 per year. Many would pay nothing at all.
Enacting a performance right for sound recordings has been a forty-year effort. Frank Sinatra fought for it in the 1960s. Now musicians like Billy Corgan, Suzanne Vega and Aimee Mann want to see it passed. And it only makes sense. In a world that is moving from music as a product to music as a service, compensation for performances is now more important than ever. Plus, since we have no reciprocal right, all the performance royalties earned in other countries can’t be paid to US musicians. This leaves millions of dollars on the table, instead of in musicians’ pockets.
FMC’s Ann Chaitovitz recently participated in a round table Q&A with Radio Ink that also included John Simson of SoundExchange, David Rehr of the National Association of Broadcasters, Duke and Michael Wright of Midwest Communications, Randy Hawke of WJJO-FM in Madison, WI and Catherine Hughes of Radio One. You can check it out here.
For more information, check out our Public Performance Right fact sheet.