6 More Democrats Join Bill for Taxing Broadcast Radio

Six more Democrats are co-sponsoring legislation that would levy a performance royalty on radio stations playing music on terrestrial radio (see 2108120059), ex-Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., chairman of musicFIRST, told reporters Monday. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, Miss.; House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, Calif.; Brad Sherman, Calif.; Thomas Suozzi, N.Y.; Jim Cooper, Tenn.; and Brian Higgins, N.Y., are sponsoring the American Music Fairness Act (HR-4130). MusicFIRST released an August poll of 1,455 U.S. adults, in which 54% said it’s “unfair” that “artists are not paid for radio airplay.” NAB, which supports a rival resolution, the Local Radio Freedom Act, responded to the poll: “Not only would a performance fee upend the century-long symbiotic relationship between radio and the music industry, but it would devastate thousands of radio stations across the country,” NAB CEO Gordon Smith said.