FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marty Machowsky (202) 297-4230 or Joe Osborne (202) 334-1145

WASHINGTON - The musicFIRST Coalition today held a press conference on Capitol Hill with musicians, civil rights, women's rights and activists groups to announce its 2010 campaign, including a new website at www.musicfirstcoalition.org that will be dedicated to mobilizing consumers and fans around the country on the importance of fair pay for musicians, town hall meetings and grassroots activity in major cities nationwide, online artist-led campaigns, and an expanded group of partners. Participants included Grammy® Award-winning recording artist Dionne Warwick, Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy, Susan Scanlan, Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, and Brent Wilkes, Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), as well as representatives from other organizations in the music community.

"This is a critical issue for not only those of us who have made music our careers, but for those who are trying to make a name for themselves in the business," said Grammy® Award-winning recording artist Dionne Warwick. "Performers from every genre of music should be fairly compensated for their art. Thus far, radio is the only medium that fails to provide artists with fair compensation for the use of their music and we feel it is time for radio companies to join Satellite, Internet, and Cable music distributors in giving musical artists what they have worked so hard to earn."

The new coalition will include additional partner organizations such as the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA), National Congress of Black Women, National Puerto Rican Coalition, National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, National Latino Farmers and Ranchers Trade Association, Labor Heritage Foundation, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Afro-Latino Development Alliance, League of Rural Voters, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

"Being paid fairly for your labor is one of the most basic civil rights, which is why we are pleased to support musicians everywhere to ensure that they are duly and fairly compensated when their music is enjoyed by radio listeners," said Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy.

"American music is a national treasure that should be protected and the talent that creates it must be paid fairly for their work," said Susan Scanlan, Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations. "That is not possible if the artists who create rock, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, Country and more, are not fairly compensated by the executives of corporate radio."

"The musicFIRST Coalition is to be commended for its work thus far in ensuring that many of America's most talented workers, our recording artists, receive the pay for radio air play that they deserve. We are pleased to join in this effort and look forward to working together in the future," said Brent Wilkes, Executive Director of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

The musicFIRST coalition is a partnership of artists and organizations in the music community who support compensating performers for their work when it's played over the air. For more information visit www.musicfirstcoalition.org.

Washington, D.C., May 13, 2009 - Today the House Judiciary Committee approved the Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848). The Bill will close a loophole in copyright law that allows music radio stations to earn billions of dollars each year without compensating the artists, musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial. The following statement may be attributed to musicFIRST Coalition Executive Director Jennifer Bendall:

"We applaud Chairman Conyers and Committee members for their work on the Performance Rights Act and for supporting artists, musicians and rights holders in their fight for fair compensation when their music is used by AM and FM radio stations."

"Our continued momentum in Congress is proof that it's well past time to recognize the importance of fairly compensating the artists and musicians whose talent and hard work allows radio to generate billions of dollars in ad revenue each year."

"Corporate radio's days of hiding behind a loophole in the copyright law are over. For over 80 years, Big Radio has had a free pass to play music. All other music platforms - satellite, cable and Internet radio stations - pay artists, musicians and rights holders for the use of their music. It's only fair that AM and FM radio be held to the same standards."

"The Performance Rights Act is fair to artists, musicians and rights holders, fair to other radio platforms and fair to radio. It includes accommodations for small and minority-owned broadcasters.

"musicFIRST looks forward to working with Congress to ensure that U.S. artists and musicians receive the performance right they deserve."

Washington, DC - The musicFIRST Coalition (Fairness in Radio Starting Today) today filed a formal request that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) investigate and take action against radio stations for abusing their license to use the airwaves, a valuable public resource.

The filing details how radio stations across the country refuse to air musicFIRST ads, threaten artists who support the effort to create a fair performance right on radio and continue to run misleading ads produced by the National Association of Broadcasters - all in an effort to further their own private commercial interest at the expense of their public interest obligations.

"For more than 80 years radio stations have been using the work of artists and musicians without compensating them, now they're using the public airwaves unfairly for their own self interest," said musicFIRST Executive Director, Jennifer Bendall. "We respect the First Amendment rights of broadcasters to air their views in this and any debate, but they've crossed the line. They have engaged in a concerted effort to promote their own financial interests above their legal duty to serve the public interest by providing truthful and accurate information."

Radio stations must ensure that their private interests, including their private financial interests, do not interfere with their obligation to serve the public. The musicFIRST filing notes that the use of a broadcast license to further a licensee's personal economic interest is particularly egregious where it results in the skewing and distorting of a public debate.

"Time and time again we have been told ‘NO!' by radio stations when it comes to airing our side of the debate," said Bendall. "Many stations are rejecting our ads without even reading the script. It's an absolute sham. Ironically, they are refusing to take our money at the same time that they cry poverty to avoid fairly compensating artists for the music upon which they have built their businesses."

The ads and on-air commentary unfairly prey on the public's fears by calling it a tax, which it's not, saying all the money is going to foreign companies, which it's not, and intimating that this is a racial issue by claiming that there is no black representation in the process and that it will "murder black radio" - again not true.

"Even more offensive is the effort to silence artists through threats and retribution," Bendall said. "No one should ever be penalized for working for what they think is right; for participating in the democratic process; for exercising their First Amendment right to correct a decades-old wrong. But that is just what these radio stations have done."

According to the musicFIRST filing, one major radio group dropped a top selling artist's record after he spoke in support of performance rights legislation. The program director of a Florida radio station declined to add an artist's recordings to his station's playlist because the artist is listed as a member of the musicFIRST Coalition. Another director of programming told a representative of two prominent artists that the artist's support for the Performance Rights Act would have a "chilling effect" on their relationship. And a Delaware radio station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month.

"These are the cases we know about," Bendall said. "We can only imagine what may be happening under the cover of silence."

musicFIRST is asking the FCC to investigate these actions, find that the stations have violated their public interest obligations and consider the broadcasters' malfeasance in connection with their license renewal. musicFIRST is also asking the FCC to consider this conduct as part of its overall review the length of radio stations licenses, currently seven years.

"Our message to the FCC is clear," Bendall said. "We respect a broadcaster's right to oppose the Performance Rights Act. But we cannot tolerate broadcasters' use of the public airwaves to stifle debate, threaten artists and musicians and undermine the public interest in pursuit of their narrow, private business interests."

NEW YORK, July 14, 2009 - Today the National Association for the Advanced of Colored People (NAACP) passed a resolution at their centennial convention saluting Rep. John Conyers and supporting performance royalties for musicians that would be provided under the Performance Rights Act, H.R. 848-a civil rights bill for musicians.

The resolution reiterates the support of America's oldest and most prestigious African American organization for this important workers' rights and civil rights legislation.

Big radio corporations like Clear Channel and Radio One refuse to pay musicians a single cent when their music is played on the radio-a practice the bill would end. The bill in Congress only reaches big corporate radio-a specific provision protects small radio stations including all small black-owned radio stations.

"The NAACP recognizes that many black musicians are penniless in old age because Radio One and Clear Channel don't pay royalties. Performance rights is a civil rights issue, it is a workers' rights issue," said Sean Glover, spokesperson for the musicFIRST Coalition.

"This civil rights for musicians legislation guarantees fair pay for musicians. This is a rebuke of Radio One and Clear Channel for exploiting musicians and smearing members of the Congressional Black Caucus," Glover added.

NAACP CELEBRATES THE ON-GOING LEGACY OF CONGRESSMAN JOHN CONYERS, JR.

July, 2009

WHEREAS John Conyers, Jr. has served the people of the City of Detroit, the State of Michigan, and the Nation for over four decades in the House of Representatives, first elected in 1964 as the only candidate to ever receive the endorsement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and is one of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the longest-serving African-American in Congress; and

WHEREAS since his election to Congress, John Conyers, Jr. has worked tirelessly in the public interest, striving to create jobs and economic opportunities, to be a peacemaker throughout the world, and to ensure equality and justice for all Americans but especially for communities of color and all those who have known the shackles of discrimination and oppression; and was been recognized for this work by the NAACP as its 92nd Spingarn Medalist; and

WHEREAS, for over 40 years, Congressman Conyers has consistently supported, if not led, the NAACP legislative agenda and has voted in support of the NAACP position every time he has been able to vote on the floor of the House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS Congressman Conyers has continued the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement during his tenure in Congress; and beginning in 1968, introduced legislation to commemorate the life and work of Dr. King with a federal holiday until 1983 when the Martin Luther King Holiday was created; and from 1965 until 1988, Congressman Conyers employed Ms. Rosa Parks, whose defiant act of courage triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the catalysts for the Civil Rights Movement; and upon Ms. Parks passing on October 24, 2005, Congressman Conyers led the legislative effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to have her lie in honor in the Capitol rotunda; and

WHEREAS since 1989, Congressman Conyers has introduced H.R. 40, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act, to provide a formal examination of one of our nation's greatest historical injustices, the institution of slavery, as well as its contemporary consequences; and

WHEREAS John Conyers, Jr. is a lifelong friend of the union movement and the American worker; he helped pass the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act of 1978; he was a fierce opponent of attempts by the Reagan and Bush Administrations to roll back worker safety standards, eliminate overtime, and undermine workers' collective bargaining rights; and he continues to fight for equal pay for women and minorities, an increased minimum wage for all workers, and full employment for all Americans; and

WHEREAS Congressman Conyers is a tireless advocate for health care reform, rooted in his belief that universal access to high-quality, affordable health care is both a fundamental right and a necessary condition for eliminating inequality; to which end he has sponsored H.R. 676, a bill to guarantee affordable single-payer health care for all Americans that serves as the standard for comprehensive, progressive health care; and

WHEREAS in 1965, Congressman Conyers became the first African-American to serve on the House Committee on the Judiciary and later its first African-American Ranking Member and first African-American Chairman; and through his service on the Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation aimed at ending racial profiling and police brutality, helping families save their homes from foreclosure, protecting Americans from violent hate crimes, and eliminating unfair sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine; he led the opposition to President Clinton's impeachment and engineered the defeat of extremist congressional attacks on federal affirmative action programs; and he helped enact historic legislation including the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007, the Second Chance Act of 2007, and the Pigford Claims Act of 2008 protecting Black farmers; and

WHEREAS Congressman Conyers has championed the cause of strengthening and expanding voting rights throughout his tenure in Congress, beginning with the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent reauthorizations, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter) and the 2002 Help America Vote Act; and conducted a comprehensive study of the voting irregularities in Ohio in the 2004 election, culminating in the report What Went Wrong in Ohio; and has worked to secure congressional representation for the more than half a million Americans who are disenfranchised residents of the District of Columbia; and has sponsored legislation to address the voter suppression and intimidation that continues to plague low-income and minority communities; and

WHEREAS, as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Conyers performed vigorous oversight over extremist Administrations which were fighting against civil rights and civil liberties, whose violations included acts such as the warrantless wiretapping of Americans, the improper firing of U.S. Attorneys and the politicization of the U.S. Department of Justice, and the manipulation of intelligence reports in making the case for war; and

WHEREAS Congressman Conyers sponsored H. Con. Res. 57, which recognized Jazz as a uniquely American musical idiom and culture and valued expression of the African-American experience; and has a strong record of advocating for the rights of minority artists and performers, including leading the charge against record labels' "work-for-hire" legislation and preserving artists' ownership of their work; championed the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995, the first law to give artists fair compensation for digital performances; and is the primary sponsor of H.R. 848, also known as the Civil Rights for Musicians Act of 2009, which would protect against the exploitation of musicians and ensure that they are fairly compensated for their performances over terrestrial radio while at the same time protecting the interests of small and minority-owned radio stations; and

WHEREAS in recent months, Congressman Conyers has been the subject of unscrupulous and unfounded attacks on his commitment to the African-American community and his very character; and which attacks have ignored his lifelong and continuing fight for justice, equality and economic opportunity for minorities and for all Americans;

WHEREAS H.R. 848 ends a decade's old, outdated exemption from the copyright laws that allows radio stations to exploit African-American and other musicians by not paying them for their music when it airs on radio. Every modern country requires radio stations to compensate musicians, and copyright law requires that artists be compensated in every other circumstance - when their music is played on satellite radio, downloaded from iTunes or even played at a local bar. H.R. 848 is about ending the exploitation of African-American musicians and paying them a fair wage for their work.

WHEREAS H.R. 848 is a labor issue: H.R. 848 is about paying artists for their work. A fair day's work deserves a fair day's pay; that's a plain and simple truth that is American as apple pie. And it's a principle inviolable to the labor movement.

WHEREAS H.R. 848 is a civil rights issue: Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis to ensure that sanitation workers got paid a fair wage. Compensating people fairly for their work is a basic civil right. We did not wage a civil rights movement to enable a few rich African American millionaires exploit and hoodwink African-American musicians.

WHEREAS H.R. 848 protects small black radio stations: For smaller radio stations - including over 90% of black radio stations - royalty fees under the bill are limited to only $5,000 a year for the rights to play all music they want. That's the cost of a few radio ads for an entire year's rights !

WHEREAS H.R. 848 is life and death for many musicians: The Civil Rights for Musicians Act of 2009 would ensure that fifty percent or more of all performance royalties go directly to the performers - not through the labels. This would be the first time in history that performers would be compensated when their songs are played on the radio. And if the performers still own the copyright, they get all the proceeds.

WHEREAS H.R. 848 is fair to Big Radio: H.R.848 will barely cost Big Radio companies at all. It's the equivalent of five commercials a day. And small African American radio stations are largely exempted from big payments to artists.

WHEREAS H.R. 848 is the only source of income for many older performers. They didn't write the songs - but they brought them to life. Without the performers, these songs would be nothing but words on a page. And for many of them, radio performances are their only source of potential income.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NAACP endorses and supports H.R. 848, The Civil Rights for Musicians Act of 2009 and call on the NAACP units and members throughout the country to contact its Congressional members and Senators and the President of the United States to pass this measure into law so America's performers can receive the respect they so long deserve.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People denounces the recent attacks on Congressman John Conyers, Jr. and recognizes his long-standing and continuing service to the Nation and his tireless commitment to the rights of African-Americans and to the principals of equality and justice.

WASHINGTON, July 31, 2009- musicFIRST today announced that Sheila E. and Rounder Records co-founder Marian Leighton-Levy will testify on behalf of the musicFIRST coalition during Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Hearing on the Performance Rights Act.

Sheila E. is an internationally known, multiple Grammy nominated singer and songwriter who has toured extensively with such artists as Natalie Cole, Gloria Estefan, Marvin Gaye, Herbie Hancock, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and Prince.

Rounder Records is one of America's premier independent record labels. Rounder Records released Raising Sand, the Alison Krauss and Robert Plant album that earned six Grammy Awards, including album of the year and record of the year for Please Read The Letter.

"We are grateful for the support of Sheila E. and Marian," said musicFIRST executive director Jennifer Bendall. "Sheila E. is a great talent. She is a drummer, percussionist, vocalist, songwriter, performer, arranger, producer, composer and instrumentalist. Marian and Rounder Records have done so much to keep American roots music alive and flourishing. Rounder is one of the many indie labels that today define the American music scene. Both Sheila E. and Marian understand that it takes hard work and creative talent to make a song come to life."

"Corporate radio earns billions of dollars a year in advertising revenue without compensating the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial. The time has come to close the corporate radio loophole and pass this long overdue legislation. We look forward to Tuesday's hearing," Bendall said.

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 14, 2009 - musicFIRST today commemorated the 40th anniversary of Woodstock by releasing a list of the artists and musicians who performed at the three-day long concert, so many of whom are still heard on the radio today. Half a million concert goers packed the grounds of Max Yasgur's 600 acre dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., 40 years ago this weekend. Woodstock is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in popular music.

"So many of these great artists spent their lives pouring their hearts and souls into their music," said musicFIRST executive director Jennifer Bendall. "And to this day, many of them continue to receive radio airplay all over the world-yet have received absolutely nothing for their work."

"Taking music and turning it into a performance that moves people requires creativity deserving of compensation, said Bendall. "Radio continues to make billions in advertising revenue off of the music it plays and has received a free pass to do so for the last eight decades. The time has come to close the corporate radio loophole and pass the Performance Rights Act-legislation that's fair to artists and musicians, fair to radio and fair to other radio platforms."

Below is a list of the 32 artists and bands who played at Woodstock 40 years ago, many of whom are still receiving radio airplay today:

Richie Havens
Country Joe McDonald
John B. Sebastian
The Incredible String Band
Bert Sommer
Tim Hardin
Ravi Shankar
Melanie
Arlo Guthrie
Joan Baez
Quill
Keef Hartley Band
Santana
Canned Heat
Grateful Dead
Mountain
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Sly & The Family Stone
Janis Joplin with the Kozmic Blues Band
The Who
Jefferson Airplane
The Grease Band
Joe Cocker
Country Joe & The Fish
Ten Years After
The Band
Blood Sweat And Tears
Johnny Winter and Edgar Winter
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Paul Butterfield Blues Band
Sha-Na-Na
Jimi Hendrix (The Gypsy Sun & Rainbow Band)

WASHINGTON, August 20, 2009- Don't let the dog days of summer pass you by without taking a look at some of radio's latest tricks. Today the musicFIRST coalition released a compilation of radio's most egregious distortions about a fair performance right on radio called "The Radio Distortion Handbook." The handbook contains the many lies and mistruths to date used by the radio industry in its disingenuous campaign against the Performance Rights Act and those who support it. The Performance Rights Act is a bill that will bring fairness to artists, fairness to other radio platforms and fairness to radio.

"AM and FM music radio stations continue to earn billions in advertising revenue without compensating the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial," said musicFIRST executive director Jennifer Bendall. "Instead, radio stations and the National Association of Broadcasters continue to run an untruthful campaign against the Performance Rights act, spreading lies and misinformation to the general public and challenging the character and integrity of member of Congress who support it."

For months, radio stations have been using the public airwaves to run ads and commentary that unfairly prey on the public's fears by calling the Performance Rights Act a "tax"- which it's not, saying all the money is going to foreign companies, which it's not, and intimating that this is a racial issue by claiming that there is no black representation in the process and that it will "murder black radio" - again not true.

"Time and time again we have been told ‘NO!' by radio stations when it comes to airing our side of the debate," said Bendall. "Many stations are rejecting our ads without even reading the script. It's an absolute sham. Ironically, they are refusing to take our money at the same time that they cry poverty to avoid fairly compensating artists for the music upon which they have built their businesses."

Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it is seeking comments on the petition filed by musicFIRST. The petition details how radio stations across the country refuse to air musicFIRST ads, threaten artists who support the effort to create a fair performance right on radio and continue to run misleading ads produced by the NAB - all in an effort to further their own private commercial interests at the expense of their public interest obligations.

Here are just a couple of examples of radio's lies and misinformation:

1. From a May 12, 2009 open letter by Radio One, Inc. Chairperson and Founder Cathy Hughes:

"The bill...is the brain child of the foreign owned record industry..." (5/12/09)

THE FACTS: American artists and musicians have been pursuing the performance right for over 70 years. Over those seven decades right up to the present, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has spent millions of dollars on ad campaigns and lobbying to kill any efforts by Congress to enact a performance right.

The original coalition in support of a performance right was the "brain child" of bandleader Fred Waring who, in 1935, organized 700 performers (including Bing Crosby) as the National Association of Performing Artists (NAPA). Since then, singers and musicians from Frank Sinatra to Gladys Knight to Bruce Springsteen have spoken out in support of this basic act of economic fairness.

2. In a May 29th letter to the editor of The Tennessean, NAB Executive Vice President for Media Relations Dennis Wharton asked, "If this legislation is aimed at "helping artists," why does it direct half of the money to giant record label companies based out of the country?"

THE FACTS: NOWHERE does the Performance Rights Act refer to "record label companies" (giant, foreign, or otherwise). The PRA would send 50% of the royalties directly to artists and musicians and 50% directly to the sound recording copyright owner. And since many artists are also the sound recording copyright owners of their music (such as Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins who recently testified before Congress in favor of a performance right), artists would actually get more than record labels. That is the definition of "helping artists."

3. In response to questions on why he refused to show up to the July 9, 2009 House Judiciary Committee hearing on minority radio to which he was invited, Radio One CEO Alfred Liggins stated: "I'm not going to sit there and get beat up" (http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/cdp_20090709_6296.php)

THE FACTS: What Mr. Liggins means is that he can't defend his position against the opposition. Had Mr. Liggins shown up, he would undoubtedly have had to explain why Radio One claims it is under financial threat when he received a $10 million bonus and a 69.3% salary increase. He also would have had to explain why he can receive this kind of payment when he refuses to compensate the performers whose work is responsible for generating these good fortunes. Congressional hearings provide an opportunity for the public and its representatives to hear all sides of an argument. They also provide witnesses the opportunity to state their case in person.

Refusing to testify is even more hypocritical given the fact that Radio One founder Cathy Hughes has inaccurately complained "...There has been only one hearing on the bill and that hearing did not have any black ownership representation. Black radio owners and community leaders including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Dick Gregory, Tom Joyner, and myself have all begged Conyers to at least allow us the opportunity for a hearing. He has flatly refused."

Complaining inaccurately that broadcasters have had no opportunity to testify, then refusing an offer to testify because you'd have to defend your position? That's radio distortion at its best.

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2009 - The Federal Communications Commission today receives comments on a petition filed by the musicFIRST Coalition.

The petition details how radio stations across the country refuse to air musicFIRST ads, threaten artists who support the effort to create a fair performance right on radio and continue to run misleading ads produced by the National Association of Broadcasters - all in an effort to further their own private commercial interests at the expense of their public interest obligations.

Comments to be filed by the Music Managers Forum, a member of musicFIRST, include an e-mail sent by college radio station to WICB in Ithaca, New York, to Aimee Mann's online message board. The e-mail reads in part:

"Since you support MusicFirst, WICB hereby drops Aimee Mann and Til Tuesday from our playlist like a bad habit."

"The e-mail is clear," said Jennifer Bendall, executive director of the musicFIRST Coalition. "WICB dropped Aimee Mann because she supports the effort to create a fair performance right on radio."

The e-mail goes on to say, "I will encourage the college broadcasters to follow our lead, and the few commercial stations that play your music will be happy to join our cause."

"They did not stop there," Bendall said. "Like other radio stations, WICB dropped Aimee Mann and ‘any other musicFIRST supporters.' It is a sad day when a licensed radio station affiliated with a major college punishes artists for exercising their First Amendment Rights."

Under the provisions of the Performance Rights Act, college and other non-commercial radio stations will pay just $500 or $1,000 a year to clear the performance rights for all the music they use.

"Broadcasters enjoy broad First Amendment rights," Bendall said, "but they can't punish artists for exercising their First Amendment rights, too. This is not about legitimate programming choices; it's not about what a radio station's listeners want to hear. It's about radio's bottom line."

Radio stations must ensure that their private interests, including their private financial interests, do not interfere with their obligation to serve the public. The musicFIRST filing notes that the use of a broadcast license to further a licensee's personal economic interest is particularly egregious where it results in the skewing and distorting of a public debate.

According to the musicFIRST filing, one major radio group dropped a top selling artist's record after he spoke in support of performance rights legislation. The program director of a Florida radio station declined to add an artist's recordings to his station's playlist because the artist is listed as a member of the musicFIRST Coalition. Another director of programming told a representative of two prominent artists that the artists' support for the Performance Rights Act would have a "chilling effect" on their relationship. And a Delaware radio station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month.

"These are the cases we know about," Bendall said. "We can only imagine what may be happening under the cover of silence."

musicFIRST is asking the FCC find that the stations have violated their public interest obligations and consider the broadcasters' malfeasance in connection with their license renewal. musicFIRST is also asking the FCC to consider this conduct as part of its overall review of the length of radio stations licenses, currently seven years, and shorten the license period.

"Our message to the FCC is clear," Bendall said. "We respect a broadcaster's right to oppose the Performance Rights Act. But we cannot tolerate broadcasters' use of the public airwaves to stifle debate, threaten artists and musicians and undermine the public interest in pursuit of their narrow, private business interests."

AM and FM music radio stations earn billions in advertising revenue every year without compensating the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners ears to the radio dial. Every other radio platform - internet radio, satellite radio and cable TV music channels - pay a fair performance royalty. And AM and FM music radio stations that stream their over-the-air signal online pay a fair performance royalty for the online program.

Artists and musicians also enjoy a radio performance right in almost every other country in the world. Countries without a radio performance right include China, Iran, North Korea, Rwanda and the U.S.

When the Performance Rights Act is passed, 75% of radio stations in the U.S. will pay $5,000 a year or less to clear the performance rights for all the music they use. Some will pay as little as $500. The royalty rate paid by other stations would be set through negotiations or by the Copyright Royalty Board, if the negotiations to not result in an agreement.

WASHINGTON, September 9, 2009 - Reports that Apple will include an FM tuner in the new iPod Nano highlight the important role the music will play in radio's future success. musicFIRST released the following statement. The statement may be attributed to Jennifer Bendall, executive director of the musicFIRST Coalition.

"Today's report that Apple is adding an FM tuner to the iPod Nano is great news for music and great news for radio. It also highlights the key role that music - catalog music, today's music and new music - will play in radio's future success and the importance of enacting a fair performance right for America's artists and musicians, now! Radio needs music more than ever before. It must fairly support the artists and musicians who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial. FM tuners in portable listening devices like the Nano will allow listeners to take music radio with them wherever they go. But none of this is possible without the hard work and creative talent of artists and musicians who give beauty and meaning to written words and notes."