Proposed Tax Could Kill Radio As We Know It
Big, internationally owned record companies are looking to put a new tax on every song played on radio so that they can get richer while local radio stations go bankrupt and up and coming artists are silenced. It is a bad idea, but it will become a reality unless we tell our members of Congress to stop it.
Whether you live in a big city or small town, local radio is important for your community. It’s a community resource that provides jobs, a critical communication path for regional issues, and an opportunity to showcase local talent.
Consider a recent report in Forbes Magazine:
In one corner is the MusicFIRST Coalition, which includes the Recording Industry Association of America, several artist groups and SoundExchange, the folks who collect licensing fees from satellite and Internet radio stations and distribute it in the form of royalty payments to musicians. They say it’s not fair that session musicians and others who play or sing on records played on the radio should be denied compensation.Led by the NAB, broadcasters including Clear Channel Radio, Emmis Communications and National Public Radio have formed the Free Radio Alliance in opposition to the Performance Rights Act. The legislation would require terrestrial broadcasters to pay performance royalty fees. Stations with less than $1.25 million in annual revenue would be allowed to pay a flat fee of no more than $5,000 per year.
It’s the old Napster argument all over again. Despite the billions of people that buy records (or CDs, or iTune files) based on music that they hear FIRST on the radio, record companies want to draw blood even sooner by instating an outrageous tax for on-air performaces- a tax that would prevent thousands of radio stations from playing their music at all.
Do what I did, and check out www.noperformancetax.org to help stop the radio tax!
Also, show your support by following StopRadioTax on Twitter.