Tag: Rep. Darrell Issa

BMI’s Insult that Keeps On Insulting! @hypebot: Radio doesn’t pay performers, but iHeart will get $100M from BMI sale to Google/Private Equity

[T Editor sez: Remember how we have all fought alongside #IRespectMusic, Blake Morgan and MusicFirst to get artists paid for radio play of their recordings on terrestrial radio? Remember how iHeartMedia and the rest of the National Association of Broadcasters used their lobbying muscle to block our heroes in Congress like Reps. Jerry Nadler, Ted Deutch, and Darrell Issa and Senators Marsha Blackburn and Alex Padilla from passing the American Music Fairness Act? And are blocking it to this day? Well, adding insult to injury, the broadcasters who apparently own BMI, the for-profit PRO, are making serious bank for selling their shares to Google and private equity fund New Mountain. You know, Broadcast(er) Music, Inc.? Thus screwing songwriters, but screwing artist/songwriters TWICE. Who are they? According to the most recent BMI annual report we could find they are probably the same companies with board seats which are these smiling faces:

Bruce Hougton at Hypebot fills us in on the details of just how profitable the sale for Google’s blood money really is for one stockholder owner of BMI, iHeart Media (formerly Clear Channel). iHeart is, of course, the largest radio station owner in the US and poster child for media consolidation and screwing artists. iHeart profits from blood money stealing from artists and then does it again stealing from songwriters. And if iHeart is doing it, the rest of the BMI owners are, too. Of course you can complain to your songwriter-board member of BMI…oh wait, you don’t have any. Unlike ASCAP and SoundExchange. Of course, the question is whether those Members of Congress who worked so hard on the American Music Fairness Act and its predecessors will exercise their oversight role and investigate the sale. As well as the series of moves that lead to Google acquiring songwriter personal data that we don’t think belonged to BMI in the first place. It may not just be insulting, it may also be illegal. And answer the musical question, how big is your black box?]

 In an ironic twist, iHeart Media, the largest owner of broadcast radio stations in the US, will receive $100 million from the sale of BMI to New Mountain Capital [and Google’s CapitalG venture fund]. The windfall is a result of iHeartMedia’s equity interest in BMI.

Read Bruce’s post on Hypebot

by Trichordist Editor

Press Release: @MarshaBlackburn, @SenAlexPadilla Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Ensure Artists Are Paid for Their Music Across All Platforms #irespectmusic

The US is still the only Western democracy that stiffs artists on royalty payments for radio airplay. Let’s fix that!

[Editor Charlie sez: Anyone who tells you that artists can’t pass legislation to get fair pay for radio play is either a charlatan or full of shit and they are not on our side of the football.]

U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), along with Senators Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), introduced the bipartisan American Music Fairness Act to ensure artists and music creators receive fair compensation for the use of their songs on AM/FM radio. This legislation will bring corporate radio broadcasters in line with all other music streaming platforms, which already pay artists for their music. 

Congressmen Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) led the legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“From Beale Street to Music Row to the hills of East Tennessee, Tennessee’s songwriters and artists have undeniably made their mark,” said Senator Blackburn. “However, while digital music platforms compensate music performers and copyright holders for playing their songs, AM/FM radio stations only pay songwriters for the music they broadcast. This legislation takes a long overdue step toward leveling the music industry playing field and ensuring creators are fairly compensated for their work.”

“California’s artists play a pivotal role in enriching and diversifying our country’s music scene, but for too long, our laws have unfairly denied them the right to receive fair compensation for their hard work and talent on AM/FM radio broadcasts,” said Senator Padilla. “As we celebrate the accomplishments of our musical artists at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles this weekend, we must commit to treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve for the music that they produce and that we enjoy every day.”

“Protecting one’s intellectual property is the signature right of every American who dares to invent. Every artist who first picked up a drumstick, sang to their mirror, or wrote lyrics from the heart did so because they had a dream and wanted to share it with the world. I look forward to working with stakeholders and colleagues to achieve this overdue reform,” said Congressman Issa.

“The United States is an outlier in the world for not requiring broadcast radio to pay artists when playing their music, while requiring satellite and internet radio to pay,” said Chairman Nadler. “This is unfair to both artists and music providers. I’m proud to sponsor the American Music Fairness Act which would finally correct this injustice.  This is what music creators want and deserve.”

“It’s clear that the movement for music fairness continues to gain momentum, bringing us closer than ever before to ending Big Radio’s ability to deny artists the fair pay they deserve. This week’s House and Senate introductions of the American Music Fairness Act is evidence of that. We thank Senators Padilla and Blackburn and Representatives Issa and Nadler for their leadership in the effort to secure economic justice for our nation’s music artists and creators, and look forward to working together to drive continued progress in the coming months,”said Congressman Joe Crowley, Chairman of musicFIRST.

“Music creators have been forced to give away their work for far too long. It is time for Congress to demonstrate that they stand behind the hard-working Americans that provide the music we all love by finally passing the American Music Fairness Act. This bill has the broad support of artists, labels, small broadcasters, unions, and others because it strikes a fair balance by respecting creators for their work and protecting truly local broadcasters. No more excuses, no more waiting in line for their turn. Music creators demand the economic justice AMFA provides,” said Michael Huppe, President and CEO of SoundExchange.

“As we prepare to focus our attention on celebrating music this weekend at the GRAMMY Awards, the Recording Academy also renews its commitment to ensuring music creators are always compensated fairly for their work. We applaud Reps. Issa, Nadler, McClintock, and Lieu and Senators Padilla, Blackburn, Feinstein, and Tillis for reintroducing the American Music Fairness Act and look forward to working with them to build on the historic progress we made last year on this important legislation,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.

“The American Music Fairness Act is practical compromise legislation that has already passed the House Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support last Congress. It takes a smart, calibrated approach towards solving a decades old problem in the radio industry. When enacted into law, AMFA will ensure recording artists and copyright owners are paid fairly for recorded music regardless of the technology used to broadcast it while carefully protecting small and noncommercial stations to preserve truly local radio our communities depend upon,” said Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

“For far too long, our broken and unfair system has let AM/FM radio stations — many of which are owned by just a few massive media corporations — get away with refusing to pay artists when they play their music. While these big corporate broadcast companies gobble up billions upon billions in advertising dollars, the session and background musicians, whose work makes all of it possible, receive no compensation whatsoever for their creations. It’s time to right this wrong, and the American Music Fairness Act aims to do just that. It’s vital that Congress protects the livelihoods of those who create the music we know and love,” said Ray Hair, International President of the American Federation of Musicians.

“I want to thank Congressman Jerry Nadler, Congressman Darrell Issa, Senator Alex Padilla and Senator Marsha Blackburn for their leadership on this crucial legislation. When you consider the billions of dollars the big radio corporations generate in revenue and profits, it’s shocking that recording artists, vocalists and musicians don’t receive a penny when their work is played on AM/FM radio. Since when do workers in America get exploited without pay? This is an unfair and egregious loophole especially since both streaming and digital services pay for the use of artists’ work. AM/FM radio has had a free ride for decades and it’s time to put a stop to it! I urge Congress to fix this outdated practice by passing the American Music Fairness Act,” said Fran Drescher, President of SAG-AFTRA. 

“We are grateful that our champions are making it crystal clear that the fight for fairness continues in this new Congress. By reintroducing the American Music Fairness Act, Senators Blackburn and Padilla, along with Representatives Issa, Nadler, McClintock, and Lieu, as defenders of property rights and supporters of artistic expression, have put the mega broadcasting conglomerates on notice that it is time to erase their stain on America’s history,” said Dr. Richard James Burgess, President and CEO of the American Association of Independent Music.

Currently, the United States is the only democratic country in the world in which artists are not compensated for the use of their music on AM/FM radio. By requiring broadcast radio corporations to pay performance royalties to creators for AM/FM radio plays, the American Music Fairness Act would close an antiquated loophole that has allowed corporate broadcasters to forgo compensating artists for the use of their music for decades.

In recognition of the important role of locally owned radio stations in communities across the U.S., the American Music Fairness Act also includes strong protections for small, college, and non-commercial stations.

The American Music Fairness Act will positively impact artists and the music industry at large by:

  • Requiring terrestrial radio broadcasters to pay royalties to American music creators when they play their songs.
  • Protecting small and local stations who qualify for exemptions — specifically those that fall under $1.5 million in annual revenue and whose parent companies fall under less than $10 million in annual revenue overall — by allowing them to play unlimited music for less than $500 annually. 
  • Creating a fair global market that ensures foreign countries pay U.S. artists for the use of their songs overseas.

The American Music Fairness Act is endorsed by: the AFL-CIO, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), the American Federation of Musicians, the Recording Academy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), SAG-AFTRA and SoundExchange.

Full text of the bill is available here.

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https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2023/2/blackburn-padilla-reintroduce-bipartisan-bill-to-ensure-artists-are-paid-for-their-music-across-all-platforms

Press Release: @MarshaBlackburn, @SenAlexPadilla Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Ensure Artists Are Paid for Their Music Across All Platforms #irespectmusic — Artist Rights Watch–News for the Artist Rights Advocacy Community

by trichordist

Save the Date: Feb 2, 10am ET: Artist Pay for Radio Play Gets a Hearing in the House Judiciary Committee #IRespectMusic

We want Trichordist readers to now how much we appreciate your commitment to artist rights and especially your long-term support for the #IRespectMusic campaign. You were there early and your support has never wavered. But it’s time to step up once again!

It’s time to tell Congress we are still here and we still want them to make this happen. It’s fair and it’s the right thing to do. As Blake Morgan asked in a viral blog post in The Hill:

We musicians are used to fighting. For our livelihoods, our families, our dreams. In recent years we’ve fought battles we’ve neither sought nor provoked, against powerful corporate forces devaluing music’s worth. Streaming companies, music pirates, and AM/FM radio broadcasters who, in the United States, pay nothing––zero––to artists for radio airplay.

It’s shocking, but true: The United States is the only democratic country in the world where artists don’t get paid for radio airplay. Only Iran, North Korea, and China stand with the United States in this regard.

Broadcasters make billions of dollars each year off our music, and artists don’t earn a penny. This impacts not only the artist, but session musicians, recording engineers, songwriters. Virtually everyone in music’s economy. 

Isn’t being paid fairly for one’s work a bedrock American value?

The super-consolidated U.S. broadcast radio monopolies represented by the National Association of Broadcasters shillery has fought fair treatment for all recording artists since the dawn of radio. Thanks to the voices of fans and artists from around the United States, fair pay for radio play has become a local issue, and Congress is responding.

Tune in on February 2nd at 10 am ET for the House Judiciary Hearing, “Respecting Artists with the American Music Fairness Act” thanks to Rep. Ted Deutch and Rep. Darrell Issa, the bi-partisan co-sponsors of the historic legislation.

Rep. Ted Deutch and Blake Morgan

In the mean time, please sign the petition at #IRespectMusic and let your Member of Congress know you support the bill and want to bend the arc of the moral universe to fight artist exploitation. Please tell your friends, share on your socials and with your fans!

You can read the bill here, and if you want to drill down, you can watch this in-depth video on the issues sponsored by Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, I Respect Music Austin, Austin Music Foundation, SoundExchange, Austin Texas Musicians and Artist Rights Watch.

by Trichordist

@theblakemorgan: American middle-class musicians are worth fighting for #IRespectMusic–Artist Rights Watch

[Editor Charlie sez: Our friend and supporter Blake Morgan has an important opinion post on the bi-partisan American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) in The Hill, a long-time and influential DC insider journal. Blake tells the human story of why artists need the AMFA legislation and the #IRespectMusic campaign.]

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is amfa-156.jpeg
Rep. Ted Deutch and Blake Morgan

We musicians are used to fighting. For our livelihoods, our families, our dreams. In recent years we’ve fought battles we’ve neither sought nor provoked, against powerful corporate forces devaluing music’s worth. Streaming companies, music pirates, and AM/FM radio broadcasters who, in the United States, pay nothing––zero––to artists for radio airplay.

It’s shocking, but true: The United States is the only democratic country in the world where artists don’t get paid for radio airplay. Only Iran, North Korea, and China stand with the United States in this regard. ADVERTISEMENT

Broadcasters make billions of dollars each year off our music, and artists don’t earn a penny. This impacts not only the artist, but session musicians, recording engineers, songwriters. Virtually everyone in music’s economy. 

Isn’t being paid fairly for one’s work a bedrock American value?

Read Blake’s post on The Hill and sign the #IRespectMusic campaign and tell Congress you want fairness for artists!

by Trichordist Editor

@TheBlakeMorgan Interview on the American Music Fairness Act Launch and #IRespectMusic–MusicTechPolicy

[This post first appeared on MusicTechPolicy. Read the American Music Fairness Act here.]

Blake Morgan helped to launch the American Music Fairness Act on June 24 in Washington along with Dionne Warwick, Sam Moore, a host of other artists and the bill’s sponsors Rep. Ted Deutch and Rep. Darrell Issa. We asked Blake about his impressions.

Rep. Ted Deutch and Blake Morgan at the AMFA launch

Chris Castle: I see you were back in Washington supporting new legislation to create a performance right for artists on terrestrial radio, how did that feel? Getting the band back together?

Blake Morgan: You know, it felt great. There’s a new spirit in the air, a new energy to this fight. Everyone at the launch event could feel it. It was aspirational. How can one not feel that way for something called the American Music Fairness Act?

Janita, Rep. Ted Deutch, Blake Morgan, Tommy Merrill

Any particular insights from the event?

Perhaps the one at the top of the list is that everyone was so happy––to see each other, to band together, to renew our vows to each other so to speak. To recommit ourselves in a new way to securing fair payment for artists on terrestrial radio. It was emotional. The fight for justice always is, and let’s make no mistake: this is a fight for basic fairness and justice. There’s an unmistakable excitement about the new bill, and our job––together––is to turn that excitement into volition, then into momentum, and finally into victory.

There was a quote in the recent Supreme Court ruling against the NCAA that jumped out at me: “Nowhere else in America can businesses get away with agreeing not to pay their workers a fair market rate on the theory that their product is defined by not paying their workers a fair market rate.” That’s not exactly analogous to broadcast radio, but it’s close, don’t you think?

Absolutely. Nothing could be more American than being paid fairly for one’s work. Nothing should be more American than being paid for one’s work. When it comes to music, where else in the American economy are working people told they won’t be paid for their work because instead, they’re going to receive “exposure.” That’s what AM/FM radio does. What’s more, broadcast radio can take our music without our permission, broadcast it, sell advertising around it, profit from it, and not pay the artists anything for it! As Sam Moore said at the bill’s launch event at The Capitol, “Pay us! Be nice!”

You were an active supporter of the CLASSICS Act that required pre-72 recordings be given equal treatment on digital performances. I was pleased that Rep. Deutch and Rep. Issa invited several generations of artists to the American Music Fairness Act event, will the pre-72 artists also be protected by AMFA?

Definitely, that’s such an important part of what this bill does. My godmother was Lesley Gore, the iconic 60’s hitmaker who sang the classics “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me,” among others. She died in 2015, after having never been paid one damn dime for those hits being played on AM or FM radio. AMFA may be too late for her, but I’m committed to making sure we get this passed in time for other iconic hitmakers and legends who have helped weave the very fabric of this country with their music. Who could possibly look any of those artists in the eye and tell them they shouldn’t be paid fairly. For shame.

What can the #irespectmusic community do to support the legislation?

We can do what we do best––bring music makers and music lovers together, tell people to stop wringing their hands and start rolling up their sleeves, and get active in supporting AMFA. We’re going to set up mechanisms in the coming weeks to make our voices heard with congressional members, with broadcasters (an increasing amount of which support this legislation, in fact), and with those who haven’t yet joined the push. We’re going to work hard, we’re going to work smart, and we’re going to pull ourselves closer and closer to victory with this in mind: it always seems impossible until it’s done.

IRMAIV Large
by thetrichordist

Press Release: @RepTedDeutch and @RepDarrellIssa to Host Press Event to Introduce American Music Fairness Act #irespectmusic

[Editor Charlie sez: Our great allies Ted Deutch and Darrell Issa are introducing a law to guarantee the key object of the #IRespectMusic campaign–artist pay for radio play!]

Reps. Deutch and Issa will be joined by legendary artists Dionne Warwick, Sam Moore, and others to introduce legislation to ensure music creators are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio

(Washington) On Thursday, June 24 at 1:15 pm ET, Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) are hosting a national press event alongside artist-advocates like Dionne Warwick and Sam Moore to introduce the American Music Fairness Act.
 
Members of the press can register here. This event will be live-streamed here.
 
After COVID-19 disrupted artists’ financial stability, it is more important than ever that legislation is passed to ensure music creators are compensated when their music plays on FM/AM radio stations. The American Music Fairness Act will require that performing artists are paid for the use of their songs on FM/AM radio — just like they already do on digital streaming services.
 
This bipartisan bill is a response to the Local Radio Freedom Act championed by the National Association of Broadcasters.
 
WHAT: A national press event announcing the American Music Fairness Act
 
WHO:
·     Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL)
·     Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
·     Dionne Warwick
·     Sam Moore
·     Additional artist-advocates
 
WHEN: Thursday, June 24, 1:15pm ET
 
WHERE: House Triangle, United States Capitol, Washington, DC

IRMAIV Large

by thetrichordist