“It’s outrageous that big radio companies are able to make billions of dollars each year in ads while denying royalties to the performers,” the group said
Boyz II Men took to Capitol Hill this week, pushing for lawmakers to pass legislation that would finally allow recording artists to get paid for when their work gets played on the radio.
The iconic group was at the Capitol on Feb. 13 — World Radio Day — pushing for Congress to pass the American Music Fairness Act, a bill that if enacted would require radio companies to pay artists for the use of their recordings on the radio.
“This is an issue about right and wrong. Artists — including background vocalists and musicians — work hard to create music that brings joy to millions,” the group said Thursday. “It’s outrageous that big radio companies are able to make billions of dollars each year in ads while denying royalties to the performers whose music attracts listeners in the first place. We hope that Congress will listen to the voices of artists and pass this bill.”
Artists and industry advocates have been pushing for reform to get paid for radio play for decades. In the current system, only the songwriters get royalties from radio, not the artists who performed on a given track. The United States is one of the few countries where stations don’t pay royalties to the artists. Randy Travis advocated for the AMFA before Congress last year, while Master P wrote an opinion piece for Rolling Stone and said that “me and my fellow artists who made those songs have never gotten a single penny for our performances” on radio.
While Boyz II Men took to the hill, they’re far from the only musicians making the push to lawmakers. About 300 other artists including Stevie Nicks, Sheryl Crow, Weezer, Carole King, Randy Travis, and Ozzy Osbourne signed a letter addressed to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“For decades now, corporate broadcasters have unjustly exploited an antiquated loophole in the
law to profit from advertising generated from unlimited use of free music,” the letter said. “Each year, AM/FM radio stations play nearly a billion songs. And each year, giant radio corporations rake in billions
in advertising dollars while refusing to pay a single cent to the artists behind the music that
attracts their advertisers in the first place and makes their entire business model possible.”
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