From All Access (registration required):

Multiple media sources are reporting that The SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE has approved its own version of a performance royalty bill for terrestrial radio. Like the previously approved HOUSE bill H.R. 848, The Performance Rights Act (S. 379) will force music radio stations to pay a performance fee to artists, musicians and rights holders for airplay.

Predictably, the MUSICFIRST COALITION was elated with the outcome. “Today we are one step closer to righting a wrong that has existed since the early days of radio; one step closer to winning the fight for fundamental justice that has been waged by countless artists and musicians over the last 80 years,” Exec. Dir. JENNIFER BENDALL stated. “We are grateful for the leadership of Chairman LEAHY, Sens. FEINSTEIN and HATCH and other members of the committee. We look forward to working with them and Chairman CONYERS, Reps. ISSA and BERMAN and other members who understand the importance of creating a fair performance right on radio for America’s artists and musicians.

As a (former) radio guy, it’s easy for me to side with the view that record companies wouldn’t sell nearly as much product without the free promotion that radio give them, so in return we should not have to pay a fee for airplay. Where that thinking breaks down is in the realm of oldies stations, 80’s, Classic Rock and the like, where the artist is no longer making new records, and doesn’t get anything for supplying programming for the stations that generate millions in revenue.

You would think that they could figure out a way to have a reasonable performance fee for product over five or ten years old, and a moratorium of fees on new product, when radio is more necessary to generate mechanical sales.

However, given the state of radio today, you could argue that you can’t get blood out of a rock! What say you?