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Opposition To RIAA Performance Tax Tops 250 In House, Reaches 25 In Senate September 23, 2009

Posted by David W. King in Uncategorized.
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A bipartisan group of 251 House members and 25 U.S. Senators are now on record in opposition to a performance tax, NAB announced.

The overwhelming Congressional opposition comes as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) continues to lobby in support of legislation that would require local radio stations to pay an additional fee for every song aired free to listeners.

Meanwhile, Universal Music sent an email this week to local radio stations, thanking them for the free airplay provided for musicians Taylor Swift and Jaysean.

“Thank You Radio For Simultaneous #1 Tracks @ Top 40 and Rhythm!” reads the email.

The record label’s recognition of the unparalleled promotional value of radio airplay contradicts statements made by recording industry representatives in Washington who have characterized radio airplay as “a form of piracy.”

“Support in both the House and Senate for free and local radio continues to grow, despite an unprecedented lobbying campaign by RIAA,” said NAB Executive Vice President Dennis Wharton. “We’re hopeful that Congress ultimately rejects this bill and preserves the ability of local radio to freely expose new artists and new music to 235 million listeners every week.”

Sens. Mary Landrieu (LA) and John Thune (SD) and Reps. Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), John Boccieri (OH-16), Brian Baird (WA-3), Joe Sestak (PA-7) and Daniel Lungren (CA-3) are the most recent co-sponsors of The Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 49, S. Con. Res. 14), a bipartisan resolution expressly opposing the record label-led performance tax effort.

The Local Radio Freedom Act is now supported by a group of 251 House members and 25 U.S. Senators.

“Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings,” reads The Local Radio Freedom Act, which was unveiled at a February Capitol Hill event hosted by the Free Radio Alliance. The resolution was introduced by Reps. Gene Green (TX-29) and Mike Conaway (TX-11) in the House and by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (AR) and John Barrasso (WY) in the Senate.

Kenye West versus Taylor Swift–A Professional Jealousy or a Staged Interruption? September 14, 2009

Posted by David W. King in Uncategorized.
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Professional jealousy or staged interruption?

Last night on MTV’s Video Music Awards Kenye West apparently upstaged Taylor Swift with an outburst that voiced his objection to her accepting an award that he thought was owed Beyonce. Nominated for the same award, he said that Beyonce should have won for her ”Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it)” as it was ”one of the best videos of all time.”

As he had several times before, West was certain to get the award show spotlight to shine on him.

Swift, interrupted in her acceptance speech, was visibly upset and ran off stage. West, booed for this interruption, was interrupted as the broadcast cut away to a wide angle shot of the stage and then to a pre-recorded segment with Tracy Morgan. Booed, West, was asked to leave the show and left the building.

For the many of viewers who may have missed this scene, they tuned into YouTube to catch copies of the video clip. Viacom, MTV’s parent company — which is embroiled in a long-running $1 billion lawsuit with YouTube — engaged in a game of media “whack-a-mole,” tried to squash illicit copies of the videos almost as soon as they appeared.

According to Hill Holiday, a communications and marketing agency, a single video of Mr. West’s outburst registered 500,000 viewers and “got pulled by Viacom within 20 minutes.”

Swift later had a chance to recapture her moment in the spotlight when Beyonce, accepting her moonman for her “Single Ladies” which took the video of the year, invited Swift out on stage to properly ”have her moment.”

500,000 views within 20 minutes? You talk about a viral video. Was this staged or was it a case of a petty professional jealousy.

What do you think?