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Savannah Music Group's position against
performance royalties has created a buzz both in the music industry and radio
world.
Jerry Del Colliano is founder of "Inside Radio."
Click here for what he has to say.
Savannah Music Group Denounces Performance
Royalties
Calls for Immediate
Opt-Out Provision
Officers of
Savannah Music Group Call for Congress to Stay Out of the Music Business
Last
week, apparently fearful that congress would pass a mandate this winter, the
National Association of Broadcasters produced a set of what it called
“proposed terms of consideration,” allowing for performance royalties, monies
paid to artists and musicians by radio for airing their work. While this
system exists in Europe, historically, in this country, music has aired
without payment in consideration for its promotional value.
Politicians might be well advised to not interfere with the music business.
Savannah
Music Group is an independent publishing and record company. We fully support
existing writers’ and publishers’ royalties. We think that performance
royalties are a bad idea for the beleaguered broadcast industry, which is
where most people first hear music that they later purchase or performing
groups whose concerts they later attend.
Our
songwriters and artists depend on radio airplay
for their success. Radio industry spokespeople have testified in numerous
public forums that a performance royalty will result in fewer stations playing
music, and airplay being further concentrated on already established artists.
While this may benefit the major multi-national record companies, it will make
it more difficult for new music and new artists to get the radio exposure they
need to be successful and therefore put small companies like Savannah and our
artists at a competitive disadvantage.
Some
musicians are supporting this measure in hopes of receiving royalties for
airplay, not realizing that their opportunities to be hired for future
sessions will dry up as the airplay diminishes.
Similarly, some songwriters likewise support this measure in solidarity with
their colleagues in the music business, having been mollified by a provision
in the legislation which protects their existing royalties from radio.
However, these songwriters will lose net income from broadcast radio when the
number of stations playing music decreases.
We are
grateful for the support that radio has given Savannah's music and artists.
Should a performance royalty be mandated by Congress, artists and labels must
have the opportunity to opt out and let their records by played free of charge
by radio, with an appropriate reduction in the proposed tiered rate
proportional to the amount of license free music played . Record companies and
artists that don't agree with charging radio for airplay should not be forced
by the government to do so.
FAQ's
Why is Savannah
Music Group (SMG) now taking a position on performance royalities for broadcast
radio?
Last week, apparently fearful that Congress would pass a mandate, the
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) produced a set of what it
called “proposed terms of consideration,” allowing for performance
royalties, monies paid to record labels, artists and musicians by
broadcast radio for airing their work. Until this point, the NAB had
resisted negotiating a performance royalty sought by representatives of
the recording industry. Historically, in this country, music has aired on
broadcast radio without payment to those entities in consideration of the
promotional value of radio exposure. Most consumers decide to buy music or
attend concerts because they have heard the artist on the radio. Record
labels understand this and that's why they spend so much time, staff and
energy promoting their music to radio. We don't think Congress should
change the system, and if Congress does change the system we think labels
and artists should have the option to opt out.
Your position
seems like an odd position for a music publishing and record company to
take. Don’t you want the extra money that is projected to come from
performance royalties from airplay on broadcast radio?
Actually, those of us Savannah Music Group (SMG) believe that these
royalties will be concentrated in more established artists and the larger,
multi-national record companies. Radio industry estimates are that 25%
per cent of music stations could turn from music to spoken language
formats rather than pay the performance royalty. Broadcast radio is
already beleaguered. Radio has said that with a performance royalty
airplay will become more concentrated on established artists, which will
hurt new artists and emerging companies like ours. Reduced broadcast of
music will also reduce the revenues that songwriters and publishers
receive from radio.
So, are you for
the elimination of all royalties?
No, we think that the historic songwriter and publisher royalties should
remain in effect for broadcast radio. We just don’t want to add a
performance royalty.
If your position
is so fair, why don’t the musicians join you in your opposition to
performance royalties?
Obviously, everyone would like more money. However, musicians are paid up
front regardless of the success of the project. Musicians do not have to
wait like songwriters and publishers weeks, even months, for the potential
money stream to kick in, which only happens if the record is a hit. In the
long term, less exposure of music on broadcast radio will lead to less
music being recorded, resulting in fewer recording sessions . We think
that if musicians thought about it long and hard, they would come to the
conclusion that only a handful of constantly sought after studio musicians
will actually make any significant money from this proposal.
What about
Congress? Aren’t you concerned they will pass performance royalties in
their upcoming session?
Congress might be better served if they concentrated on more pressing
issues. If Congress insists on passing performance-royalty legislation,
small, independent record labels and their artists must be given
the right to opt out and have their music played without charge on
broadcast radio stations. It is the only way they will survive.
For more information, contact:
Marty Lanus
MartyLanus@savannahmusicgroup.com
(502) 647-5483 (502) 432-6779
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