I suppose that when "Mr. President" invites you, it's time to BUY one if you don't have one. President Barack Obama talks with Garth Brooks, who was presented with the "Grammy on the Hill Award" for his leadership in advancing the rights of music makers, in the Oval Office, April 14, 2010. The President was also presented with the 2007 Grammy Award for best spoken word album for his book "The Audacity of Hope." (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
3 comments:
Steve Chapman: I think I would have walked right past him on the street!
Billie Nicolosi: Steve I asume you mean Obama? I have seen Garth on the street in Nashville and I would never walk past him.
Scott Evans: When did Mo-Betta start making suits?
V Keith Ogurek: It's my gas meter reader man with the President, I swear.
You betcha;,Mr. Pres. Tuisha is every bit as pretty as Michele and 3 times as rich!!!!!
Radio royalty foes work to keep momentum on their side.
With Congress back in session, the next several weeks will be a critical time in the debate over whether radio should pay a performance royalty to artists and record labels.
Proponents hope to bring the proposed Performance Rights Act to a vote in the House and Senate before Memorial Day.
With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) going public with her support of the royalty — and plans to push it through — opponents are working to add signatures to the non-binding resolution opposing the fee.
House resolution co-sponsors Mike Conway (D-TX)
and Gene Green (R-TX) have circulated a letter to members detailing how a royalty would reduce diversity of programming and ownership, lead to job cuts at stations and see more music FMs flip to talk.
“If airing pre-recorded music will cost more than carrying a ‘shock jock’ or political commentator, stations will switch to an all-talk format,” they write in their letter. For some members of Congress, the prospect of more conservative talk radio isn’t particularly appealing.
NAB president/CEO Gordon Smith told Inside Radio he may be open to some compromise that would shuffle the dollars the industry already pays for internet streaming and to writers.
The music industry hasn’t said they like the idea, but haven’t slammed the door on it either.
“When people of sit down together in good faith, anything is possible,” musicFirst Coalition spokesman Marty Machowsky says. “Discussions with NAB are current and ongoing.”
Broadcasters’ biggest worry is any compromise would be the beginning, not the end. “It starts out as one little fee, but there’s only one way they can go,” Free Radio Alliance spokeswoman Peggy Binzel says. “Whatever ends up being in the legislation is just the starting point.
At the end of the day, the copyright board sets the rates. This is just the start.” Binzel says there are a lot of “hidden costs” beyond the actually royalty, such as the need to buy software and computer systems to track and report playlists to the record labels’ collection agency SoundExchange.
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