AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka addressed performance rights supporters in a May 27th press conference on Capitol Hill. Labor leaders assembled to show their support of the Performance Rights Act included AFM President Tom Lee, AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon, and recording artist Peter Yarrow, a longtime ally of the labor movement.

"In America, whether you're a performer, a firefighter, a teacher, a steelworker, or a coalminer, you shouldn't be cheated out of the wages that you earn. And yet, for the past 80 years, radio stations have used the publicly owned airwaves to make billions of dollars playing music without paying the artists who created it one red cent for using their recordings. That's why all 11.5 million members of the AFL-CIO stand united with our performing sisters and brothers in support of the Performance Rights Act."

"The Labor movement was founded on the principle of a fair day's work, for a fair day's pay. That's the principle that's at stake in the fight for the Performance Rights Act. Our efforts are tied to the struggles of workers across the country who are saying collectively "no" to corporate excess, and "yes" to corporate accountability.

The reckless greed that drives Wall Street is the same as the unconscionable greed that drives the handful of conglomerate corporate radio executives that control 75% of our nation's radio stations.

I'm going to give you one example, that's Radio One executive Cathy Hughes. In the middle of the great recession, Radio One executives fired workers, they cut salaries, and they slashed benefits while they set up for themselves a $2.7 million treasure chest for their own benefits and bonuses. Today the parking lot at Radio One may be less crowded than it was last year, but there are probably a few new Porsches there."

"I know where the American people stand in this battle. President Obama's administration has endorsed the Performance Rights Act. Even George Bush - even President George Bush endorsed the Performance Rights Act, and now it's time for congress to stand up and be counted on doing the right thing as well.

If you care about music, if you care about the rights of Americans to get paid for their work, if you care about doing what is right, be part of the good fight for our performing brothers and sisters. It's time to pass the Performance Rights Act; it's time for fair pay for air play."

 

Congressman George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Health, Labor and Pensions, appeared at a musicFIRST conference to express his support of performance rights.

"We know that most performers are struggling, and even those who very well only bring the average up to about $40,000 a year for people who remain in the industry between 10 and 15 years. "

"We cannot let stand the idea that as we see greater and greater consolidation in the media, that somehow those large media corporations are able to use the work product, the creativity of these performers, and not compensate them. This is a basic principle: this legislation is fair, it's fundamental, and it's easily understood. We should not have trouble passing it, and restoring these rights to these individuals."

Speaking at a musicFIRST press conference on April 27, American Federation of Musicians President Tom Lee shared his thoughts on passing the Performance Rights Act.

"Radio is a $20 Billion business. $16 billion of those dollars are attributable to the use of recorded progress. That is the music that our members and AFTRA create. So, when we go to the radio companies and say, can we have just a piece of that? Just a little compensation for the artists who created your $16 billion a year business, their answer is: You know, we understand and appreciate that, but that's not in our business model today."

"When somebody takes that intellectual property that we created and turns it into a $16 billion business, and says "thank you very much, but paying you a little bit of money is not in our business model", Our business model, we, the representatives of the performers and the artists, is not the same as theirs. Our business model is: we're going to create it, we're going to make it very valuable, and if you use it and you make money off of it, God bless you, but you're going to have to pay us for our creation of intellectual property."

The growing, bipartisan chorus of performance rights advocates in Washington welcomes the recent addition of a powerful ally: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Speaking last week to the Recording Academy's "GRAMMY on the Hill" event, Speaker Pelosi voiced her support of performers' rights.

"You have an army of advocates standing by your side - from both parties - on Capitol Hill. Whether it's Chairman Howard Berman; or ‘GRAMMY on the Hill' award winners Senator Durbin and Congressman Issa; or artists leading the charge - the rights of performers are not forgotten."

Speaker Pelosi's endorsement, which came shortly after the Obama adminstration's endorsement of PRA, also got the attention of the Performance Rights Act's opponents in the broadcast industry. Speaking with nationally-syndicated radio host Tom Joyner and co-host Roland Martin, Pelosi explained:

"There has to be a fair way to deal with this, because many of these performers are women, are minorities, are people coming in to it. The ones who need this the most are not the most successful and wealthy among them, they are the people starting out in it."

For Speaker Pelosi's full comments, click here: http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/pressreleases?id=1634

For the Speaker's interview on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, click the green button below.