The inevitable happened last week. The musicians won the first round in the radio royalty battle. They want paid for performances on radio. The Chairman of the Washington political group is Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan). The contentious legislation passed 21-9 in the House Judiciary Committee. Rural, minority and religious broadcasters worry that their small operations could face financial ruin if the fee legislation becomes law. What does that mean to the smaller independent labels and small artists?

It could work either for or against you. There could be a radio backlash where radio would refuse to play the artists that have been bitching and open the door to newcomers. That would be cool. As SongwritersParade reported before, we have always felt that the recording musicians get paid well for their work. As a comparison, if an electrician helps wire an apartment house, and gets paid union scale, should he then be entitled to a piece of the monthly rents from the tenants? Of course not.