By Matthew Hay Brown
Lyle Lovett and Alice Peacock came to Capitol Hill today to ask lawmakers to make radio stations pay recording artists when they broadcast their music. But they weren’t the only singer-songwriters at the hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a former chairman of the panel, seized the opportunity to remind the audience of his own musical career. The Utah Republican, who has recorded several CDs of inspirational and patriotic music, reminisced about receiving his first royalty check, and spoke of his gold and platinum records.
“I’ve been told I would have more if it weren’t for piracy,” he said, before Sen. Arlen Specter steered the hearing back to the issue at hand.
The Senate panel is exploring whether performers should get the same sort of fee that songwriters receive when their music is broadcast on terrestrial radio.
Lovett and Peacock came down on the side of getting paid; radio executives told the panel that the promotional value of airplay should be compensation enough.
“What I fail to understand after nearly is 30 years un the radio industry is why the recording industry is willing to essentially bite the hand that feeds it,” said Steven W. Newberry, president and CEO of Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, which operates 23 stations in Kentucky.
“The free-airplay-for-free-promotion concept has established a natural symbiotic relationship between local radio and the recording industry,” Newberry said. “A new performance tax takes this mutually beneficial system and transforms it into an unfair, one-sided scheme that financially benefits only the recording industry – and to the detriment of the local radio stations.”
Lovett objected to the use of the word “tax” for what he called “appropriate compensation for [an artist’s] hard work.”
“When radio plays these recorded works, they generate profit for themselves because they attract listeners and advertising dollars,” he said. “Yet radio has never compensated performers for the value their creative work brings to the radio industry.”
Dan Brown sold a whole lot more copies of his book The Da Vinci Code after the movie came out,” Lovett said. “But no one would suggest that the motion picture studio could make his book into a
Hatch expressed empathy for both sides.
“When people create something of value, and it’s used by others, there ought to be some payment for that,” Hatch said. The question, he said, is “How can we do this in a way that doesn’t bankrupt terrestrial radio?”
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Comments
Well, this is ridiculous. Since radio began, they played "artist's" music. If folks liked what they heard, they went out and USUALLY bought the record/album/CD. Now they want to be paid each time their song is played?
Ok, I'll guess there will be nothing but talk radio then.
Posted by: John D | November 13, 2007 2:00 PM
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a former chairman of the panel, seized the opportunity to remind the audience of his own musical career. The Utah Republican, who has recorded several CDs of inspirational and patriotic music, reminisced about receiving his first royalty check, and spoke of his gold and platinum records.
Hey Snorin' Orrin, have you ever heard this little diddy by Larry Craig and The Village People?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys9xn60IBXA
Posted by: John E | November 13, 2007 2:15 PM
"ORRIN HATCH SINGS RAP"
I KNOW WHO ORCHESTRATED THE FIRING OF THE U.S. ATTORNEYS, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG. YO RIGHT.
I KNOW ALBERTO GONZALES IS GUILTY, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG, YO RIGHT.
I KNOW THE VICE PRESIDENT LIED US INTO WAR, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG, YO RIGHT.
I KNOW THE VICE PRESIDENT IS GOING TO RESIGN AND I'M GOING TO TAKE HIS PLACE, AM I RIGHT OR WRONG. YO RIGHT.
WE MAYBE IF I COULD SPILL THE BEANS ON THIS ADMINISTRATION, MY OLD LOG CABIN CAN'T BE FOOLED AGAIN BECAUSE YOU CAN'T FOOL A FOOL TWICE CAN.
BECAUSE I'M THE CAN CAN MAN!
AND HE DID JUST THAT, MR. INGLESIA OF NEW MEXICO!
Posted by: Roger Morris | November 13, 2007 4:48 PM
I'm a fan of Lyle. Buy most of his records, seen him live a couple of times but I expect that he's done himself some harm here. Let the radio boycott of Lyle Lovett begin...
Local radio won't go bankrupt. The stations just need enough content to wrap around the ads -- the proverbial "spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down." They don't care what that content is as long as they can sell the ads. If they could program 100% ads and get enough people to listen, they would.
The beancounters at those stations will just look at the bottom line and they'll just stop playing music. Expect a mass transition of radio stations to all-talk & sports formats. Hard to see how that'll help musicians get their music heard...
Posted by: JC | November 14, 2007 12:57 PM
No one has addressed the following issues:
1. The United States is the ONLY country in the world NOT paying artists royalties for playing thier music over the air.
2. The music industry that benefits from the airplay of music gives the majority of the funds to the major labels and NOT to the artists.
3. Many artists do not write or own publishing on the tunes that they perform over the airwaves, so they do not make any publishing performance money.
4. Since Dick Clarks senate hearings in 1959, labels and stations have had a symbiosis for making money, non of which was given to the artists that actually performed.
I feel that artists in this country deserve to have a piece of the American Pie, just like ALL of the other people getting rich off of thier talent.
Clive Davis was asked about Sean "P DIDDY" Combs, making 100 million dollars in a year. Clive said " I know he made 100 million, I PAID IT TO HIM".
Posted by: Allen Johnston | November 14, 2007 2:38 PM