“Next up, we’re going to spin the latest incredible song from Taylor Swift!” “Next up is a mediocre song and we’re not going to tell you who it is.” If you think it gets airplay because it’s a good song, or it’s YOUR good song, you might want payment for it.Īfter all, how many times do you hear the DJ say: So, if you think the “free promotion” is worth it, keep your records spinning.
#What does radio silence mean for free#
All of this ignores the fact that as an artist, shouldn’t it be my choice, when and under what circumstances I give away my art for free? Instead, the internet tells you that you will take my work for free if you can and thumb your nose at me when I object to your unjust enrichment at my expense.
This is a frequent argument floated over the internet that artists should be “thankful for the free exposure” instead of complaining about piracy. It should be the artist’s choice whether to offer their music for free in exchange for promotional play, or to instead opt out of the unpaid use of their music.” 3 “We have been told for years that AM/FM radio provides valuable promotion to recording artists, but those artists have never been given the opportunity to decide for themselves. ““The PROMOTE Act calls the bluff of both sides in the debate over performance rights.” 2 If the radio station refuses to pay the money, the sound recording owner gets to pull their sound recordings from airplay.
#What does radio silence mean license#
He royalties and terms described in this paragraph shall be identical to those regarding a license for eligible nonsubscription transmission services for audio transmissions under subsection (f)(2).”įor those of you non-lawyers amongst my faithful reading public, this means that a regular, over-the-air radio station must pay to the owners of a sound recordings a royalty equal to that which is paid by Pandora and similar services. (A) a terrestrial radio station that pays the applicable royalties under terms described in paragraph (2)
“An owner of copyright in a sound recording may not exercise the exclusive right under paragraph (7) of section 106 to prohibit the broadcast transmission of the sound recording by a terrestrial radio station with regard to. However, that right may not be exercised if the following occurs: “o prohibit performance of a sound recording publicly by means of a broadcast transmission (as that term is defined in section 114(k)) by a terrestrial radio station.” It creates an addition to the exclusive rights contained in 17 USC 106, a seventh right, namely: The bill itself is not complicated, running a mere 4 pages. 1 The bill, informally known as the Performance Royalty Owners of Music Opportunity To Earn Act (PROMOTE Act) and more formally known as HR 1914, would for the first time create a legal right for the owner of a sound recording to pull their recordings from terrestrial radio airplay. Which brings us to an Act introduced by Congressmen Darryl Issa and Ted Deutch on April 5, 2017. “That’s the sound that Spotify makes when it has no content.” “Let me ask you again…did you hear that?”
My response is usually in the form of a question: At these, there are frequent questions about the future of the arts in the era of unfettered internet exploitation. Many times, I am asked to speak to student law associations and sometimes to artist associations. Guest post by Stephen Carlisle of Nova Southeastern University