variety.com
26.04.2023 / 14:37
NAB and Big Radio: After 100 Years, It’s Time to Pay Artists
Michael Huppe Michael Huppe is president-CEO of SoundExchange, a non-profit rights- management organization that provides products and services to collect royalties for more than 650,000 artists, labels and publishers. At the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) annual convention in Las Vegas this past week, the organization celebrated 100 years of representing big broadcasters’ interests in Washington, D.C. But for the music community, the moment served as a different centennial marker: 100 years of failing to pay artists for the use of their music on AM/FM radio. It doesn’t matter if the artist is a Grammy Award-winning pop star known around the world, an everyday musician, or an up-and-coming local artist – if their work has been played on U.S. radio airwaves, that performer has never been compensated for that usage. [Editor’s note: While the more than 8,300 AM and FM terrestrial radio stations across the country pay royalties to songwriters and publishers, they have never paid performers or copyright holders, although streaming services and satellite radio do.]