Complaint says
top musician
dissed over
royalties
By Jennifer C. Kerr |
The Associated Press
8:06 AM EDT, June 10, 2009
WASHINGTON -
Which top-selling artist purportedly had his new single yanked from some radio stations playlists in retaliation for supporting royalties for musicians?
No one involved will name the recording artist,
but his no-play treatment by several radio
stations is alleged in a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission and obtained by The Associated press. It claims recording artists are being threatened and intimidated.
In the filing, the musicFIRST Coalition says the top-selling artist -- there are hints it could be U2 frontman Bono -- recently released a new album and spoke during April in support of an effort to require radio stations to pay musicians royalties similar to those paid to songwriters.
Soon after, it said, "several stations within a major radio broadcast group notified the artist's label that they would no longer play his single on the air."Representatives for musicFIRST refused to identify the artist.
U2's album, "No Line on the Horizon," was released in March with its leadoff single, "Get on Your Boots."
In April, Bono issued a statement on behalf of pay for musicians, saying, "It's only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist's music ... the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already."
Calls and e-mails to a spokeswoman for Bono were not immediately returned.
Other artists involved with musicFIRST include Don Henley, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera and Wyclef Jean.
The filing also alleges unfair treatment of other artists by radio stations in Florida, Delaware and Texas. It does not identify any of the stations but accuses the stations of unlawfully putting their own financial interests above their obligation to serve the public. The group asks the FCC, which regulates the public airwaves, to investigate.
The controversy centers on regislation in Congress that would require radio stations to pay musicians royalties. Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels already pay fees to performers and musicians, along with songwriter royalties. AM and FM radio stations just pay songwriters, not performers.
The National Association of Broadcasters opposes the bill, called the Performance Rights Act. The NAB says it amounts to a tax on U.S. radio stations and threatens thousands of jobs.
The filing by musicFIRST, made late Tuesday, also said:
--A Delaware radio station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month.
--Before an interview, an artist was pressured by a Texas radio station to state on the air that the Performance Rights Act would cripple radio stations.
musicFIRST Asks FCC to
Investigate Radio Stations
For Threatening Performers,
Refusing to Run Ads and
Misleading the Public
Actions Violate Radio’s
Obligation to Serve the
Public Interest, Calling
Broadcast Licenses Into
Question
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 ssociation 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 usicFIRST Executive Director, Jennifer Bendall. “We respect the
First Amendment rights of
broadcasters to air their
views in
this and any debate, but hey’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 save 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.”
###
John Henkel
Director of Artist Relations
musicFIRST Coalition
410-491-2697 www.musicfirstcoalition.org
http://www.capwiz.com/
musicfirstcoalition/home/
AN URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL MUSIC FANS!!!!
PLEASE READ IT
OUR LIVES
MAY BE IN
YOUR HANDS.
ESPECIALLY IF YOU BELIEVE that when you hear our songs on the radio we’re getting paid.
We’re not !
We don’t !
We Never have!
American musical artists
have Never been paid a
penny when radio plays their music
(and we know you,
the fans, didn’t know that)!
All those songs you know and
love have NEVER earned a
cent for
any of us.
We need your help to
right this wrong.
This effects every artist/group/musician
all musical genres that
you’ve ever heard on any
AM and/or FM format radio
all of
your life and ours.
Station owners earn
billions of dollars annually
from selling advertising space on their stations that use our recordings as the basis of
their formats.
They get you fans, listening so they can sell their ad air based and selling you stuff. They use our music to draw you and the money
to them and pay us
nothing! Not one cent!
An aberration (a hiccup)
in the United States Copyright Law, that was written in
1909 before recordings
were
important or available
and commercial radio
had not yet been invented or the first broadcast of a human voice was actually possible that’s never been corrected
is why we’ve been victimized
and it’s
not been
corrected
in
all
these years?
The simplest explanation
is that the Station Owners,
who by the way, pay nothing
to secure their broadcast
licenses from
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have become very powerful
and important
to our leaders.
They have a strong trade organization/lobby group,
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). that has managed to prevent legislation from ever getting far enough
along
to succeed.
Broadcasters believe they’re entitled to use our talents to draw in their advertisers, playing our music “free” of any sort of payment to us though they earn billions in profits because of us. They feel entitled though they pay literally everyone else.
Radio pays millions to on air personalities, talking heads, sportscasters, announcers,
dj’s, engineers and don’t
forget the huge contracts
with major and minor league sports teams to everyone except us.
There are a few other countries in the world who we’re just like that don’t pay artists: Iran, North Korea and China.
Every other modern country
in the world insures that broadcasters and others pay the recording artists when
their works are publicly performed or broadcast.
They uphold international
laws that do not tolerate the use of an artist’s performance without compensation. American has NEVER ratified those treaties because of The NAB and it’s members
pressure
on our Congress.
No Treaty --
No Rights --
No Money --
WE CAN’T COLLECT THE FOREIGN MONEY THAT
SHOULD BE OURS EITHER.
Because there are no rights
in the United States, we’re being cut out again. SO Not only don't we get paid by U.S. radio stations, but the money collected around the world for American artists stays in those countries
NEVER BEING
PAID TO US.
We can’t collect any
of it BECAUSE
we don't pay their artists
so U.S. artists lose
an estimated
$70-100 million per year..
THAT’S LIFE CHANGING
MONEY FOR
SO MANY OF THE OLDER ARTISTS AND THEIR
FAMILIES OR HEIRS.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN
HELP AMERICAN ARTISTS RECEIVE “LIVE CHANGING MONEY” THAT WILL FINALLY SECURE THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR SOME
TIME TO COME.
Please CLICK THE LINK
below to write a letter to your representatives in the House and The Senate and President Obama telling them it’s important that House Bill 848 and Senate Bill 397 get passed now. All you have to do is fill
in your zip code and it will automatically send letters
to your Senators and Congressman.
We thank you in advance for your support and assistance
in this quest. Your voice could make
all the difference for
our voices, how
amazing
is that.
http://www.capwiz.com/
musicfirstcoalition/home/
All Inducted of The
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
are Encouraged to
Join
the Coalition
U2’s Bono Backs Fair Performance Right on Radio
April 20, 2009 – In a
statement released today through the musicFIRST Coalition, U2 lead singer
Bono says that while he appreciates radio, he also supports the creation of a
fair performance right on AM
and FM radio. The National Association of Broadcasters had previously disseminated
an unrelated quote from the Irish rock band’s lead singer
to suggest that he opposes
the creation of a fair performance right on radio
for artists and musicians.
The Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848, S. 379) will ensure that artists, musicians and rights holders are compensated when their
music is used on radio.
The following statement
may be attributed to Bono-
"While we have many friends
at radio, and appreciate the many things that radio has done for our band over the years, we believe it’s only fair that when radio makes money by playing a recording artist's music and selling advertising, the recording artist should be compensated just as songwriters are already.
This
is a principle accepted
by radio broadcasters in virtually every country in the world. The music business is
in a state of
freefall at the moment, and while, thankfully, this no longer really affects
us - there are many young recording artists out there
who can no longer earn a
living from the sale of their music, or from touring or selling merchandise...yet
they
remain a
vital part of radio playlists throughout
the USA. They should
not
be denied their fair share.
In this time of so much
positive change coming
from Washington, we hope
this bill will be embraced
and become the law."
musicFIRSTcoalition.org
People who love music
understand
that reativity,
talent and hard
work
are
required
to bring
it to life.
The goal of musicFIRST is
to
ensure that struggling
performers,
local usicians
and well-known
artists
are
compensated for their
music
when it is played both
today
and in the future.
Of all the ways we listen
to music, corporate radio
is the only one
that receives
special treatment.
For more than 80 years,
big
radio has had a
free pass
to play music
refusing
to pay
even
a
fraction of a
penny
to
the performers
that
brought
it to life.
music FIRST is committed to
making
sure everyone, from
up-and-coming artists to our
favorites from years-ago,
is guaranteed
Fair Pay
for
Air Play.
You can help by writing your
member
of Congress and
telling them that you support
musicFIRST’s effort to
make
a performance
right a reality
for
all
artists and musicians.
FAIR PAY FOR
AIR PLAY!!
Radio’s promotional
value
is
on
the decline.
New music
distribution
platforms
such
as
satellite,
cable
and
internet radio –
provide additional
ways for
consumers
to enjoy music.
With
the exception of
AM
and FM radio,
each
platform
pays for the
recordings
they use
r
egardless
of any
romotion
that might
occur
as a result, including broadcasters
who simulcast their programming
on the
Internet.
However,
the
bottom
line
is that
this is about simple fairness:
the
artists who
bring the
music
to
life,
who attract listeners
to a
station,
and
who
make it possible
for radio
to
make money
by
selling advertising
deserve to
be compensated
when a
radio
station uses their
music
to compensate itself.
|
BERRY GORDY STATEMENT on
MICHAEL JACKSON passing
I am shocked beyond words.
It’s like a dream -
a bad dream.
This cannot be! How can Michael Jackson not be here?
As a kid,
Michael was always
beyond his years.
He had a
knowingness about
him
that was incredible.
When I first heard him sing Smokey’s song, “Who’s Lovin’ You” at 10 years’ old, it felt like he had lived the song for 50 years. Somehow, even at that first meeting with him, he had a hunger to learn, a hunger to be the best and was willing to work as hard and as
long as it took.
I had no concern about his ability
to go to the top. He was like my son.
He had warmth, sensitivity and two perrsonalities. When he
was not on stage, he was
loving, respectful and shy. When he WAS on stage, he was
so in charge you would not believe
he was the
same person.
Michael was and will remain one of the greatest entertainers
that ever lived.
He was exceptional, artistic and original. He gave the world
his heart and soul through
his music.
I extend my sympathies to Joe, Katherine and the entire Jackson family. My prayers
are with them.
Berry Gordy
Founder, Motown
June 25, 2009
Motown Alumni Association:
Must see   
Click above
Thank You - 20/20
"Truth In Music" segment
ABC News.com
Jon (BOWZER)
Bauman
Vocal Group Hall of Fame
TRUTH IN MUSIC
Committee Chairman
MSNBC.com
"Truth
In Music"
Has Arrived!
The Truth In Music Bill was
created to protect the artists
from Identity theft and to
protect the Consumer from
being mis-lead to believe
they are seeing the legendary
artists that made the
hits
songs famous,
when in
fact they are not.
The Truth in Music Law
is designed to stop unscrupulous
concert promoters from deceiving
the public with “impostor groups”
which have no connection,
legal or otherwise, to the
authentic groups.
Fundamentally, this is a
Consumer Protection Bill,
as the public pays hard-earned
money to see a show and has
no idea
what it’s even getting.
The bill makes it mandatory
for a live performance to
include
at least one recording
member of the group who still
has the right to use the group
name or Trademark.
Otherwise, the act
must be billed as a “tribute”
or a “salute” so that the
public knows what
it’s paying for.
An ancillary effect of this
bill is to help the authentic
artists themselves, who have
been struggling for many years
to try to stop impostors to no
avail. The impostor groups
take their jobs, their money,
their legacy and their applause.
The bill is necessary because
existing law has completely
failed to work and impostor
groups have multiplied. There
may be as many groups
of “Coasters” and “Platters”
performed nationwide,
often
at the same time in
different venues.
The bill
shifts the burden to those
groups to prove that they
actually have rights to
the
group names.
The specific guidelines the bill provides give clarity to venues
as to whom to book, and to
the state attorney general’s
office as to what constitutes
a violation. This is much more
efficient and cost-effective
than any other way of dealing
with this very specialized area.
Because of the above,
we have passed the BILL
in
33 states including
California, Connecticut,
Colorado, Delaware,
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts,
Maryland,
Michigan, Missouri,
Maine, Minnesota,
New Jersey,
North Dakota,
Nevada,
New York,
Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Road Island,
South Carolina, Tennessee,
Texas,
Utah,
Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Mississippi,
New Hampshire, Kansas, Oregon and
North Carolina.
Sponsors on board for Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Iowa, West Virginia, Wyoming, & Washington DC.
Hoping to have passed all 50 states
by 2011,
2012 at the latest.
_________
The Vocal Group
Hall of Fame
New Museum, Restaurant,
Banquet Center, Malt Shop
and Piano Bar
will remain closed until funding is made available all grants are on hold do to the state of the economy. Funding is needed to begin renovation again.
Offices are now located inside
The Columbia Theatre 82 West
State St. Sharon, Pa. The new museum will open at located at 100 West State St. Sharon,PA.
Office remain open at
The
Columbia Theatre 
The Columbia Theatre
Photo Gallery!
[Photo Gallery]
We've compiled numerous
images of past and present.
Take a trip into the history
of
The
Columbia Theatre.
[Read More]
You can Help by
becoming
a Member & Receive all the
Induction Recordings
from
2001, 2002, 2003 & 2004
on
DVD & CD.
YOU CAN VOTE
for The Vocal Group Hall
of Fame 2008 Inductees Coming Summer 2009!
_____ |
Please support
The
Vocal Group
Hall of Fame
Foundation
by downloading
a song recorded at Inductions
Induction Recordings are
from 2002, 2003 & 2004 Induction Concerts
Preview
all
150
recordings
_______
10th Anniversary
Induction Pictures
In Loving Memory
July 1, 1957
A Philadelphia radio station with only 250 watts of power began repeat plays of The Tune Wavers new release, “Happy, Happy
Birthday Baby”.
By October 1t was #1.
1956 – Elvis Presley appeared on Steve Allen’s TV show singing his new hit “Hound Dog” to a basset hound sitting
on a pedestal.
Top Single:
“Windy”
The Association
#1 1967
Birthday:
Bobby Day
(The Hollywood Flames) 1930
June Montiero
(The Toys)
1946
__________
July 2, 1954
Lillian Leach, on of the premier R&B lead singers of the fifties, and her group The Mellows singed to Jay Dee Records.
Top Single:
“Cool Jerk”
The Capitals
#7 1966
Birthday:
Paul Williams
(The Temptations)
1939
__________
July 3, 1961
The Chantels biggest hit “Look In My Eyes” charted today on it’s way to #14.
1971- Jim Morrison of The Doors died in his bathtub in Paris of a heart attack. He was only 27.
Top Single:
“Every Beat Of My Heart” Gladys Knight & The Pips
#8 1961
“It’s Too Late”
Carole King
#1 1971
_________
July 4, 1960
The Demensions magnificent cover of “Over The Rainbow” hit the Top 100 (#16).
Their version was the first since Judy Garland’s 1939 recording to chart even though 60 different versions had been issued during that 21 year span.
1964 – Independence Day may have been the
result of the Americans defeating the British, but on the charts the battle was a draw.
On the first July 4th
since the musical British Invasion, both sides had 5 records in the Top 10. The Brits best was “My Boy Lollipop” (#2) while the Yanks topper was “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys.
Top Single:
“I Get Around”
The Beach Boys
#1 1964
“Everybody’s
Somebody’s Fool”
Connie Francis
#1 1960
Birthday:
Annette Sterling
(The Vandellas)
1943
Jesse Lee Daniels
(Force M.D.s)
1963
__________
July 5, 1965
The Four Seasons were invited to perform at the White House by President Johnson.
Top Single:
“I Only Have Eyes For You” The Flamingos
1959 #6 R&B
“There’ll Be Sad Songs”
Billy Ocean
#1 1986
__________
July 6, 1957
Paul McCartney met John Lennon for the first time at a Quarrymen concert in a Liverpool church.
Top Single:
“Easier Said Than Done”
The Essex
#1 1963
__________
July 7, 1961
The Tokens recorded “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” (RCA #1). It would become the first folk-rock hit.
1954 – Memphis D.J. Dewey Phillips played Elvis’ “That’s Alright Mama” on his show. It was the first time a Presley platter had been put on the air.
Top Single:
“Love, Love, Love”
The Clovers
#10 R&B 1956
“Will It Go Around In Circles” Billy Preston
#1 1973
Birthday:
Joe Salvato
(The Duprees)
1940
__________
|
