Royalties measure rocks Congress - Jeanne Cummings - POLITICO.com

Royalties measure rocks Congress - Jeanne Cummings - POLITICO.com 

Royalties measure rocks Congress

By JEANNE CUMMINGS | 6/16/09 4:12 AM EDT

It seems like a chicken-or-egg sort of argument.

Do musicians make more money because radio stations play their songs, or do radio stations make more money because they play the artists’ songs?

That’s part of the conundrum facing lawmakers as they consider the Performance Rights Act, a proposed piece of legislation that would require local radio stations to pay royalties to musicians whose songs are played on their airwaves.

Picking a side in this dispute carries some political risks, given the powerful adversaries.

On the one hand, you have the artists, whose star power and photo op possibilities can instantly bring tears of joy to the eyes of even the most grizzled veterans of the House and Senate.

Artists will.i.am, Sheryl Crow, Dionne Warwick and even Martha Reeves and the Vandellas have attended town hall meetings and appeared on Capitol Hill to pose with politicians and promote the legislation.

On the other hand, you have the radio station owners and talk show giants, whose control over the airwaves can have a knee-rattling, nail-biting effect on even the longest-serving incumbents.

Among them is Eduardo Sotelo, better known as Piolin, a syndicated Latino talk radio host who reaches millions of listeners in 52 markets. Piolin has had two sit-downs with President Barack Obama and is largely credited with driving Hispanic votes to the Democratic ticket last fall. He opposes the proposed royalty payments.

Making matters even harder for lawmakers is that the two sides are starting to play rough.

The coalition representing the artists, including MusicFIRST and the Recording Industry Association of America, filed a complaint last week with the Federal Communications Commission accusing the broadcasting industry of intimidating artists who support the act by threatening to silence their recordings.

In addition, the performers’ advocates assert that radio stations are refusing to air ads that present their view even as the stations run their own commercials misrepresenting it.

The group is urging the FCC to launch an investigation that “should also serve as an appropriate foundation for license renewal determinations.”

Meanwhile, the National Association of Broadcasters and its allies are accusing House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), the House bill’s chief sponsor and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, of promoting legislation that would run small, minority-owned stations out of business.

The stations are using their inherent grass-roots advantage by urging listeners to press their local House or Senate members to oppose the legislation. When Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) voted against the proposal in the Judiciary Committee, she said it was because of heavy lobbying from Los Angeles station owners.

And the royalty opponents warn that aspiring artists would suffer if the legislation were passed, because radio stations would be less willing to pay untested talents without established fan bases.

“If this comes about, you won’t see very many new artists except on ‘American Idol,’” said Tom Joyner, a nationally syndicated African-American talk radio host. “That’s going to be the only place you can break in new artists. It won’t be the radio.”

Joyner tried to make that case when he met with Conyers on Capitol Hill this spring, but the congressman wasn’t moved.

Royalties measure rocks Congress - Jeanne Cummings - POLITICO.com