7-10-14
If you thought the Royalty fight was over just because the Congressional Hearings ended, think again. You've heard of the Local Radio Freedom Act by now. Every few weeks the NAB will send out a press release with the latest Congressman that have signed on to the Act (now over 200). It's the NAB's effort to combat proposed legislation that would result in radio stations paying to play music. It's a story we've covered extensively (see sidebar stories). Now, according to The Hill, MusicFirst is pressuring lawmakers who've signed on to the Local Radio Freedom Act with a new campaign, using social media and newspaper ads in their districts.
MusicFirst Executive Director Ted Kalo says he hopes the campaign makes lawmakers realize their support for
the Local Radio Freedom Act could impede an overhaul of the music licensing system. ?Any member that signs onto it should be aware that NAB is going to use it as a shield? against bills that would require radio stations to pay musicians."
In the upcoming 40 Most Powerful People in Radio issue (release date July 28) we asked Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman about the issue. He said he recognizes music companies have a unique model -- instead of spending billions of dollars on advertising as a consumer packaged goods company would, they use free radio airplay to ?advertise? their music. "In the grand scheme of things we think it?s a fair trade. However, as the new digital world emerges and we all wrestle with how to build a sustainable market for both digital music and radio we have been open to putting everything on the table in a more defined relationship, and in the interest of building that digital market we have been willing and open to putting broadcast radio revenue into the mix to make it happen. As with any new technology or opportunity, we have to be careful not to be too rigid about our past as we look to the future. We?re committed ? and always have been ? to working with both artists and music companies to find the best way to align the interests of radio, music companies, artists and music fans."
Here's what the MusicFirst ads are saying about the Congressman supporting Radio. "Their names are being used to fight fair compensation for musicians. It?s hard enough to make a living as a musician ? and even harder when your own representatives in Congress won?t support your basic right to fair pay for your work.? The group has first targeted Reps. David Price (D-N.C.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). They are calling the NAB's "Local Radio Freedom Act," an anti-artist resolution.
Midwest Communications CEO Duke Wright recently told Radio Ink there is no doubt in his mind that radio provides a tremendous benefit to recording artists by exposing their music to over 90% of Americans each and every week. "The artists therefore receive not only royalties from the recordings but popularity that can lead to tremendous income from concert tours. Many of our radio stations are contacted constantly by record promotion people seeking air play for their product. These people are employed by the very companies whose executives are telling congress that radio promotion has little or no value. Some would call that hypocrisy."
Wright says this a long-running quandry. "Negotiations have been going on for many many years between radio and record companies regarding payment from radio stations for the privilege of exposing and popularizing the recorder's product to America. On the other hand radio advertisers pay the stations for exposing and popularizing their goods. Probably the answer is for both sides to negotiate in good faith and come to some type of agreement whereby radio would pay some royalties (keeping in mind the very real value of the promotion the artists get from radio play) and in return would get a considerable reduction in the royalties now assessed to radio play on web streams (which incidentally also increases the exposure of the recorder's product.)"
Pittman says labels and artists are music radio?s most important partners. "Our goal has always been to work closely with them to bring their music to the hundreds of millions of fans who listen to radio. For 70% of all listeners ? whether they listen to radio, playlist creators like Pandora or on-demand services like Spotify -- broadcast radio remains the #1 source for discovering new music ? by a large margin. We take our responsibility to both artists and listeners very seriously, because without radio the opportunity for this kind of mass market discovery of new music wouldn?t exist."
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(7/11/2014 6:25:07 PM)
Payola laws: You can take money for songs aired, as long as it's announced at the song's conclusion. So, go for it and see what happens to your audience numbers.
Re: "...we're still the biggest megaphone..." and losing share, especially in lower-end demos.
Music is radio's drawing card to sell advertising. With expansion of music platforms radio's argument is weakened. (Radio may still be the biggest but, at one time, there were more horses on city streets than automobiles.)
"The stale 'it helps you sell music' argument no longer holds any validity to labels or artists."
Oh Yeah? Why are they in here every week soliciting ads, providing prizes and taking our PD out to dinner? Get your head of the sand and face the facts - in a fragmented media world, we're still the biggest megaphone for music.
(7/11/2014 3:37:02 PM)
It's hilarious that terrestrial radio is still so full of itself. Wake up to now folks. No one is buying music any longer. Why should they when they can stream or download just about any song every recorded online on YouTube or somewhere else? Record labels and artists are getting an increasing amount of revenue instead from licensing and performance royalties. The stale 'it helps you sell music' argument no longer holds any validity to labels or artists. The free ride ends soon folks.
(7/11/2014 12:51:24 PM)
It's simple, really. Remove laws regarding payola. Radio will pay to play music to artists/labels and artists/labels who really want the exposure radio gives them will pay to be on the air. Problem solved.
The bigger problem right now is some artists seem to think radio would fail without them. Ask the Dixie Chicks how well that worked out for them. (As a side note, the "starving artists" this would supposedly help have generally by and large signed their royalty rights away to their label)
(7/11/2014 12:22:42 PM)
Every time Bob plays a world premiere don't you think hes getting $$ for playing it? Corporate payola if you ask me.
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