Artists and labels seek royalties from AM/FM radio

First they came for the internet broadcasters. Then they came for the over the air broadcasters.

From the LA Times, Artists and labels seek royalties from [over the air] radio:

Mary Wilson, who with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard formed the original Supremes, said the exemption was unfair and forced older musicians to continue touring to pay their bills.

"After so many years of not being compensated, it would be nice now at this late date to at least start," the 63-year-old Las Vegas resident said in Milwaukee, where she was performing at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. "They've gotten 50-some years of free play. Now maybe it's time to pay up."

So let me get this straight: Mary Wilson, one of the Supremes, feels ripped off by over-the-air radio because they have never paid royalties for the music they broadcast. Yet if over-the-air radio would have never broadcast the Supremes, Mary Wilson would have never been at all famous, and would have to be doing something far less rewarding than touring to pay her bills.

The thing that bugs me about this- Mary Wilson and others like her got paid for singing on the records they made in the past. These were either "work for hire" or contracts where the performers received a percentage of the record sales. If the record never got airplay (or as some would say, free advertising for music), then the records wouldn't have sold nearly as well.

One more thing artists like Mary Wilson should keep in mind: if the royalties are so high that broadcasters are driven to make deals directly with the labels, then the artists and backup performers won't get anything at all; the labels will get everything.

AM and FM broadcasters are already talking about only playing music that they can charge record labels to broadcast, saying these are just music commercials. Oh, wow, isn't that a novel twist on Payola?