WASHINGTON, DC—Today, Representative Mel Watt (D-NC) introduced the Free Market Royalty Act (FMRA), which would close the decades-old exemption enjoyed by terrestrial AM/FM radio broadcasters that allows them to not compensate performers and labels for the use of their works.

The bill aims to address the lack of a performance right by establishing a process through which parties can negotiate “fair market” rates while directly compensating artists in a manner similar to the existing public performance right for digital broadcasts. The following statement can be attributed to Casey Rae, Interim Executive Director of the Future of Music Coalition: read more