Sound Recording Performance Royalty Proposed

House democrat Rep. Mel Watt (North Carolina) announced a plan to reintroduce legislation requiring radio stations to pay performance royalties for sound recordings (not just for compositions).  The last time the issue was proposed, in February 2009 (H.R. 848, the Performance Rights Act), the bill failed to pass the House.  The National Association of Broadcasters issued a statement strongly opposing a "new performance tax."

Public Performance Of Sound Recordings - Ad

Glenn Peoples, NAB Calls Performance Right 'Bad for Artists, Bad for Listeners', Billboard (Mar. 27, 2013) (link):

The National Association of Broadcasters has called a performance right for sound recordings “bad for radio, bad for artists and bad for listeners” in two newspaper advertisements thanking two new co-sponsors of the Congressional resolutions supporting the Local Radio Free Act.