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Radio airplay is the primary marketing outlet for gospel music. Stations pay for licenses from ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC and the proceeds are distributed to the songwriters and publishers. However, artists and labels have never been paid a performance royalty for over-the-air broadcasts in the U.S. It has been that way since KDKA first went on the air in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania back in 1922. However, that could change very shortly.

The United States along with North Korea, the Congo, and China are the few countries where radio broadcasters are exempt from paying royalties to artists. The U.S. stands out as the most industrialized nation without any system of artist performance royalties.

On December 18, 2007, the "Performance Right Act of 2007" was introduced to congress. The legislation would correct a loophole in the copyright law that exempts AM and FM broadcasters.

An organization called "MusicFirst" that is comprised of many music industry associations such as the Recording Academy, American Federation of Musicians, and the RIAA are lobbying support for this legislation. They state that corporate radio has built a huge industry based on playing sound recordings without ever paying the artists. Technology has brought forth Internet, satellite radio, and cable - all which pay a performance royalty. MusicFirst wants corporate radio to be held to the same standards of its competitions and start paying artists fair market value for their music.

On the opposite spectrum of this issue is the National Association of Broadcasters. This organization holds the opinion that radio has been more than fair to artists because radio promotes artists to 232 million listeners every week. They view the Performance Right Act of 2007 as a new type of "tax." In response they are supporting the "Local Radio Freedom Act" which is legislation that would prevent any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air.

I have tried to fairly represent both sides of this issue. I have made my living in the music business for the past 10 years. Prior to that I worked in radio for four years. I understand where both parties are coming from. However, here is my opinion on this issue. Commercial radio stations exist for one reason - to sell advertisements. That is it. Radio stations do not develop programming for the good of the people. Programming is designed to attract an audience because the stations need people to hear the commercials. What does a radio station do that doesn't have an audience? They go out of business. A station needs listeners that hear the ads and then patronize the sponsors. More listeners result in higher ratings. Higher ratings translate into higher ad revenue. So how does a radio build a loyal audience that provides them with high ratings? They simply do it by playing an artist’s music. If a radio station could play advertisements 24 hours a day and still have a listening audience they would definitely do that. Everyone knows that cannot work. So, they attract an audience with a product (artist's music) that they do not have to pay for.

If the Performance Right Act of 2007 becomes law, that means gospel artists and their respective labels will start seeing checks in the mail. A new organization similar to Sound Exchange, which pays owners of sound recordings royalties for Internet, satellite radio, and cable radio use, will likely be started.

Do artists benefit from radio play? Absolutely! Is it fair that radio stations can use our music to finance their business and not pay a royalty? Absolutely not! A fair royalty needs to be put in place. Performers need radio stations and radio stations need our music. Think of this as a co-op deal. Both parties need each other, but lets treat each other fairly.

For more information, here are links for further research:

http://www.musicfirstcoalition.org
http://www.nab.org
http://www.grammy.com
http://www.riaa.com

Steve Allen
http://www.squareonestudio.com

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