New York Times
For more than 70 years, over-the-air radio stations have played music without paying the performers who recorded the songs. That could be changing. This month, the National Association of Broadcasters released what it described as a framework of a deal in which stations would pay a total of about $100 million a year in performance fees. The association’s outline suggests that the largest stations pay a performance fee of 1 percent of net revenue, and smaller stations a lower rate or none at all. While labels and musicians have long sought performance fees, broadcasters have argued that the stations provide important promotion for artists, and that a fee might put small stations out of business. Even if a final compromise is reached, it would still need Congressional approval. The full article is available at the link above.