Most of us deal as “independent” music people; meaning we are not affiliated with major labels. Some of you are lucky enough to get a cut of your material on a major label. If so, you’re in pretty solid. There is a battle heating up between the music industry and the radio industry. We’ve mentioned this a few times in past editions. Artists, musicians, etc., want radio to pay more royalties other than publisher/writer things that already come through to licensing firms BMI, SESAC and ASCAP.

In one corner of the ring is NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) in the other corner is musicFirst Coalition. The NAB is touting its “Performance Rights Act” and they claim to have 158 House Representatives on their side. The Coalition says that seven (7) House committee chairmen are in favor of the “Performance Rights Act.” The timing coincides with the arrival of 500 local broadcasters in Washington for the NAB State Leadership Conference. Winning this battle over the proposed fee is the NAB Board’s No. 1 priority. We personally hope radio wins.

The radio industry is truly strapped for funds and they can’t afford any more fees in these times when advertising revenues are really down. The economy has them scraping for advertising dollars to meet expenses. One thing we DO KNOW is that the artists who go before the panels to state the case of getting paid radio royalties are going to get scalded. Radio across America will put a black-ball on all the acts and they’ll play hell getting their records played. Ditto any singer/writers who go up there and plead with Congress. The names of these acts will spread like wildfire to every radio station across America. This is going to be fun to watch.

Technology is ruling the world. If you’re not embracing technology, you are going to get lost in the shuffle. BMI is reporting great increases in the rapidly growing ringback tones. The revenue reached this year in the USA will amount to $235 million, up 15% from 2008 and 68% more than in 2007. Ringbacks are songs you hear when placing a call to a participating mobile participant. BMI reports that 10 million Americans have signed up for ringback services through their wireless carriers, reflecting a 4% market penetration. Each subscriber pays a fee to have the music on the mobile phone.

We hope you enjoy the upcoming Easter and/or Passover holidays. Best wishes to you and yours on these very important days.