Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, Dickey Betts, is backing the American Music Fairness Act. AMFA would require radio’s biggest companies to pay royalties for playing music on their stations. Smaller stations would pay a flat fee.
“This weekend, as we celebrate the induction of legendary artists into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’s worth remembering that music creators are still not paid by AM/FM radio when their songs are played over the air. That’s just wrong,” said Betts in a statement released through Music First. “As we stand up and applaud the careers of star performers, we also should take this moment to stand up for music creators who aren’t fairly compensated for their work. Major media companies rake in billions of dollars in advertising and yet refuse to pay artists a dime when their music is played. The American Music Fairness Act is before Congress and would rectify this wrong. As we celebrate our diverse musical culture, we should be doing right by the artists behind the music and paying them for their contributions.”
The Local Radio Freedom Act has been introduced in Congress opposing performance royalty on local radio.
Hey Dickey!
We already pay you when you write songs we play. When you perform somebody else’s song shouldn’t YOU be paying THEM too?
Oh that’s right, you need a performing license from the copyright holders.
Just like we have. That’s fair. What’s not fair is we can’t charge you for the airtime.
That’s gotta change too. Fair is fair!