The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced that five new House representatives have signed onto the Local Radio Freedom Act (LRFA), making a majority of support. LRFA is a non-binding resolution against any new performance royalty imposed on U.S. radio stations. At issue is broadcast radio’s historic exemption from paying artists and labels for playing music recordings over the air. Continue Reading
SoundExchange, which collects and distributes label royalties from streaming music, released its Q1 2017 report this morning, citing growth statistics compared to Q1 2016. It’s a growth story of participating musicians, even as Pandora — the largest single contributor to label royalties from webcasting — reduced its involvement in this particular payment system. Continue Reading
The battle of the bills continues in Washington, as over-the-air radio’s music royalty exemption is again under scrutiny by the 115th Congress. In the latest development, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif) has introduced a new bill with a new solution which gives artists the right to forbid airplay of their music without payment. Continue Reading