The NAB has been working the halls of Congress on this item since 2007, at times adding two or three members. As of Friday, 223 House reps now support a resolution opposing a performance royalty tax on radio stations. And, it’s bipartisan, a rarity in Washington.
12 more House Members added their cosponsorship to the resolution last week.
There are a total of 27 Senators that support the bill. NAB CEO Gordon Smith. “NAB greatly appreciates the bipartisan coalition of Representatives and Senators who have declared their support for hometown radio stations by cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act. A performance royalty would inhibit musicians’ exposure on free and local radio, hurt stations’ ability to serve their communities, and damage the long-standing relationship between broadcasters and the recording industry. In these difficult times for all businesses, radio broadcasters thank lawmakers for opposing a job-killing performance royalty and look forward to continuing to provide unparalleled promotional value for new and established performing artists.”
Adding their support recently for the Local Radio Freedom Act in the House are Reps. Michael Burgess (R-TX-26), Danny Davis (D-IL-7), Mike Garcia (R-CA-25), Chris Jacobs (R-NY-27), Ben McAdams (D-UT-4), Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), John Moolenaar (R-MI-4), Bill Pascrell (D-NJ-9), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Kurt Schrader (D-OR-5), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ-11), Thomas Tiffany (R-WI-7).
class act, house members. at a time when creators are suffering even more so, take action to insure that the USA is among a small cabal of backward nations that don’t pay properly for performance usage. add that to US non-participation in the 1961 Rome convention, and you clearly see the attitude of lawmakers towards creators. low class people, as they usually are.
Big deal. Let see has congress actually passed something..no. And now we have GMR and another PRO for pre-1972 music.