Lee Greenwood Backs Bill to End 100-Year Radio Royalty Loophole as EU Eyes $287 Million Holdback
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jul 3
Lee Greenwood Backs Bill to End 100-Year Radio Royalty Loophole as EU Eyes $287 Million Holdback
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 3
Summary
Lee Greenwood urged Congress to pass the American Music Fairness Act, saying AM/FM stations can air songs like “God Bless the U.S.A.” repeatedly while paying performers and session musicians nothing.
The proposed bipartisan bill would require large radio companies to pay artists, while local independent broadcasters could still play unlimited music for only a few dollars a day.
Greenwood said the loophole has lasted about 100 years because major broadcasters profit from billions in advertising and lobby heavily to block change.
He argued the gap also costs U.S. artists overseas royalties, with countries already withholding hundreds of millions of dollars annually and the European Union moving to withhold another $287 million a year.
Greenwood cast the measure as unfinished business after the Music Modernization Act, reviving a fight he said Frank Sinatra pushed 40 years ago.