Admit it. You’ve been guilty of tuning out my favorite FM radio station after listening to a standing catalog of the same popular songs rotating all day long. Unfortunately, the very entertainment that you might have taken for granted may be threatened by the Performance Rights Act.
Under the Performance Rights Act, AM and FM radio stations would be required to pay royalties to artists for playing their music. The radio stations would pay fees directly to the record labels, and those monies would then be disbursed to the artists. Currently, only songwriters and publishers receive compensation for airwave play.
After being proposed this past February to the House Judiciary Committee by John Conyers, D-Mich, the Performance Rights Act passed in early May with a 21-9 vote and is now headed to the House for a full vote.
Radio One owner and founder, Cathy Hughes, argues that paired with the dismal economy, the Performance Rights Act threatens to bring about the demise of black
and other minority-owned radio stations that simply will not be able to afford to pay to play.
Though the bill provides certain provisions that would protect small and minority-owned music stations, radio station executives are not fully convinced that the provisions are enough to keep black and minority-owned radio stations thriving after compensating labels for artists’ airwave play.
Still, there are some people, including some urban artists, who feel that the Performance Rights Act will do little to diminish the state of urban radio, especially because radio tends to play a small selection of artists anyway. Also, given the current state of the music industry, this may be a way for some artists to thrive, despite steadily declining album sales.
Additionally, according to musicFIRST Coalition spokesman Martin Machowsky, the United States is one of the few countries without a fair performance rights policy on radio along with North Korea, China and Iran.
While the debate continues, one thing is certain: this is an issue that goes beyond money and directly to the future of music. –sheena neal
Follow H.R. 848- (The Performance Rights Act) through U.S. Congress here: www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h848/show
