Emmylou Harris
Feb. 26, 2009 — Emmylou Harris possesses one of the most inviting speaking voices on the planet, and she used it this week in Congress. She joined such fellow artists as Patti LaBelle, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock and will.i.am, according to Billboard, to lobby for legislation that would require radio stations to pay artists and musicians when their recordings are broadcast.
The Performance Rights Act would bring the U.S. in line with many other nations, which already compensate musicians for the public use of their material. Internet radio stations and satellite radio also pay musicians for the use of their material. American stations do pay royalties to the songwriters who created the material.
The artists appeared on behalf of musicFIRST, an organization that represents performers on legislative issues. Among the founding artists in the musicFIRST are Terri Clark, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith, Don Henley, Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn, George Jones, Gretchen Wilson and Martina McBride. Four Tennessee legislators are co-sponsoring bills in the House and the Senate.
Radio stations are predictably opposed to the Performance Royalty Act. A representative for the Free Radio Alliance issued a statement, reported by The Tennessean, saying "the artist is in essence an employee of the label and is supposed to be paid by the label."
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