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Did you know that? It's an amazing fact!

From the FutureofMusic.org:

Consider this: if you hear Aretha Franklin's version of "Respect" on U.S. radio, only the songwriter (Otis Redding) and the publisher receive payment; Aretha (and her label) are left out. Compare that with the situation in just about every other industrialized nation, where performing artists receive payment for the use of their work on over-the-air broadcasts.

It's also important to remember that satellite radio (XM or Sirius), webcasters and cable TV already have a performance right, which pays 45 percent directly to the performing artists, 50 percent to the sound copyright owner (usually the label, but sometimes the artist) and five percent to the backing musicians. Terrestrial radio only pays the songwriters and publishers, which gives them an unfair advantage over emerging music services.

Why the difference? US terrestrial broadcasters are exempt from paying a public performance right for sound recordings.

Some argue that enacting a fee to compensate the performing artists would sound the death knell for many smaller terrestrial radio stations, but it's just not true:

Under the proposed legislation, if a commercial station makes less than $1.25 million in revenue in a year, it will pay a maximum fee of $5,000. And any public broadcasting entity, religious broadcaster or noncom educational station would pay a maximum of $1,000 per year. Many would pay nothing at all.

FMC concludes:

Enacting a performance right for sound recordings has been a forty-year effort. Frank Sinatra fought for it in the 1960s. Now musicians like Billy Corgan, Suzanne Vega and Aimee Mann want to see it passed. And it only makes sense. In a world that is moving from music as a product to music as a service, compensation for performances is now more important than ever. Plus, since we have no reciprocal right, all the performance royalties earned in other countries can't be paid to US musicians. This leaves millions of dollars on the table, instead of in musicians' pockets.

Support H.R. 848 by calling your representative now and telling them to vote "Yes" on paying performers their rightful compensation for recordings!

To conclude: there are only FOUR countries in the world that don't pay a performance royalty to musicians: Iran, North Korea, China, and The United States of America.

How absurd is that?!!

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