New York, NY (Top40 Charts) For years, at VNUE (OTC: VNUE) we've been saying one of our primary missions is to protect songwriters, artists and others in the music industry, so they get their fair pay via royalties - fair meaning fair to the stakeholders, but also fair to the business owners. This not only involves music played in public spaces such as bars, restaurants and others in the "general licensing" space, but also with radio.
Did you know the US is the ONLY country in the world that does not legally compel radio stations to pay royalties to performers? Now, there's some hopeful news for the music industry.
Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Darrell Issa (R-CA), with the full support of legendary musicians including Dionne Warwick and Sam Moore, just went to Congress to introduce a bill so musicians and copy-right owners can be paid for royalties. VNUE fully supports and endorses this proposed legislation.
The American
Music Fairness Act (AMFA) would compel radio stations to pay performance royalties to all musicians and copyright owners.
This is where VNUE comes in. Our Soundstr music recognition technology (MRT) was made for this. Soundstr can identify music played on radio stations and create an accurate log of the music being played, and married together with additional data we compile, who the stakeholders are as well as their PRO (performing rights organization) affiliation. VNUE's technology has the capability of creating a clearinghouse of this data - not just limited to radio but also for physical locations, so that the end-to-end trail exists of what was played, when, and where.
Zach Bair, CEO of VNUE, said, "Although we value our radio partners and the contribution that radio has played in the industry, artists should be fairly compensated for their work. In today's world of streaming and the Internet, radio must adapt to the changing world. Soundstr can help on both ends - we can help make sure the correct artists and writers get paid, and at the same time, ensure that radio is only paying what they should, not more. I'm excited to see this develop, and we are hopeful VNUE and Soundstr can play a role. We are ready."
At a news conference announcing the introduction of the new Act, Deutch said, "The American
Music Fairness Act will protect the artists we know as they make the music we love. For the first time, artists would see a piece of the massive profits made on the backs of their creative work. Congress must end the unfair deal AM/FM radio has forced on musicians."
The American
Music Fairness Act would change the music industry by:
Requiring terrestrial radio stations to compensate all artists for their property.
Creating a fair market value for music performance royalties by closing the loophole that allows AM/FM radio stations to play music without compensating artists.
Exempting radio stations that fall under $1.5 million in annual revenue and whose parent companies fall under less than $10 million in annual revenue overall. For less than $2 per day ($500 annually), small and local stations can play unlimited music.
Ensuring that foreign countries pay U.S. artists when their songs are played overseas.
The American
Music Fairness Act is endorsed by: the American Association of Independent
Music (A2IM), the American Federation of Musicians, The Recording Academy, The Recording
Industry Association of
America (RIAA), SAG-AFTRA, SoundExchange, and now VNUE.
