SoundExchange and the coalition MusicFirst plan to bring star singers to Washington to argue their case that radio stations should pay artist royalties.
“When you hear Aretha Franklin singing ‘R-E-S-P-E-C-T’ on FM radio, the estate of Otis Redding Jr., the song’s composer, is paid a small sum, but Franklin gets n-o-t-h-i-n-g,” Washington Post columnist Jeffrey H. Birnbaum wrote, discussing the developing fight on Capitol Hill over royalties to musical artists and their labels by radio stations, which NAB describes as a proposed performance tax.
A proponent of the royalties “acknowledges that the effort will probably take years and a ton of money because its primary opponent is one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies.”
“In response,” Birnbaum reports, “the NAB will try to avoid spotlighting big radio networks and appeal to lawmakers by making sure they hear from more sympathetic mom-and-pop station owners from their districts and states.”
