[FC-discuss] RIAA Astro Turfing

[Fred Benenson]

I just got this forwarded from a friend with a friend inside the music
industry.

The basic story is the RIAA  + Co. is trying to astroturf support for
terrestrial radio royalties on recorded albums (radio stations already pay
ASCAP for song writing royalties but do not have to pay the record companies
who own the copyrights to the recordings of the songs, if that makes sense.)

For the last 80 years, the record companies were have been paying radio
stations (see: Payola) to play their music as it was their only form of
advertising for the physical records. Now that record sales are down they
see it as "unfair" and a "copyright law loophole" that radio stations have
never paid royalties to recording artists.

If anything this demonstrates the obvious demand for freely licensed media,
and I think it presents a valuable example of why AM/FM radio stations need
to look into supporting artists that want their music shared.

Also, broadcasters have an interest in keeping costs low and having to pay a
royalty rate (similar to how webcasters now must through SoundExchange)
would probably debilitatingly alter their business models.


F


~~~


Subject:* Grassroots Campaign For Public Performance Right

Dear Colleagues:

As you may know, music companies do not get paid for the performance of
our recordings on terrestrial radio.  That means that despite all of the
hard work and financial investment that we put into these recordings,
from a radio perspective, the publishers are the only interested music
parties that get paid.  The United States is virtually alone in this
regard.  Record labels almost everywhere else in the world get paid for
the public performance of their recordings.



Now, for the first time, it looks like we have a shot to change this
which could mean several hundred million dollars to our industry each
year.   Sony Music Entertainment and other record companies recently
joined with the artist community to launch a major campaign to convince
Congress to enact a "performance right" law in the United States,
ensuring that recording artists and labels will be paid a royalty when
our music is played on over-the-air broadcast radio.  Our effort made
substantial progress in 2008.  The musicFIRST Coalition - which includes
RAC, AFM, AFTRA, NARAS, the indies and major labels -- is organized and
funded (www.musicfirstcoalition.org
<http://www.musicfirstcoalition.org/>).   Congress is starting to
understand that the current law is unfair, as most other developed
nations do have a broadcast performance right for artists and record
labels, and even in this country all other types of radio (satellite,
internet, and cable) do pay for the right to play music.



2009 is a critical year of opportunity in Congress, and we need to push
our campaign forward with everything we have.



As you would expect, we face strong opposition from the broadcaster
lobby, which has political ties in every congressional district in the
country and has defeated similar legislation many times over the past 80
years.  To succeed in this campaign we need to ratchet up our grassroots
lobbying effort across the country so that the issue is seen as one
pitting a few broadcasters against a much larger and more determined
community of music professionals.



This is where you come in.  The musicFIRST Coalition is creating a
number of local, grassroots groups around the country to show that there
is broad-based support for the performance right nationwide, and we have
been asked to help build a large membership roster for these groups.
Will you lend your name to this effort?



As Sony Music employees you are eligible to join any of the following
groups:



·       Your local Chapter of the musicFIRST Coalition (for example, the
Miami Chapter), which is open to anyone supportive of the performance
right campaign



·       The Alliance of Music Investors, which is open to artists and
employees of any label, major and indie



·       Your local Coalition of Music Professionals, which is open to
anyone making their living in the music business



We ask that you consider joining one of these groups.   Agreeing to do
so means lending your name to a committee that will write to Members of
Congress about this specific issue. You will be given a chance to review
drafted letters before they are sent, with an understanding that you'll
have 24 hours to respond by email if you do not want to be included as a
signatory on any particular letter.  You might also be asked to make an
occasional call or send an email to Members of Congress, if you are
willing.  Finally -- and only if you wish to participate -- there may be
a meeting or two with members of the relevant Congressional delegation
when they are in your area.

If you are willing to help, please send an email to Deirdre McDonald,
our SVP of Industry and Government Relations, at
deirdre.mcdonald at sonymusic.com <mailto:deirdre.mcdonald at sonymusic.com>
.  Please include your current title and name as you'd like it to be
listed - as well as your home zip code (so we can identify your
Congressional Representative).   Unless you have a particular
preference, you will be assigned to the group(s) where you are most
needed so that we have a balance of majors, indies, unions and other
coalition members on each piece of correspondence.

Please share this with your colleagues and ask them to participate as
well.  With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake we want to show
support from across our company in every location around the country.
Also, if you would like Deirdre to spend five minutes at your next staff
meeting discussing the campaign in further detail, she would be happy to
do so.

To succeed in this campaign, we need everyone's help.  Please feel free
to call Deirdre at (212) 833-4202 if you have questions or concerns.

Thank you so much for your help.
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