American Music Fairness Act will ensure big radio companies finally pay artists for playing their music
WASHINGTON D.C. (February 3, 2025) – The musicFIRST Coalition applauded Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Congressman Mark Green (R-TN), and Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) for re-introducing the American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) last week, ahead of the annual Grammy Awards, to finally ensure that American recording artists are paid for their work and share in the profits that big radio companies make from playing music.
“For too long, big radio companies have had a powerful hold on Washington, D.C.,” said former U.S. Senator Mark Pryor, Co-Chair of the MusicFirst Coalition. “It’s time for Congress to stand up for artists, not big radio companies, and ensure working musicians – backup musicians and vocalists who work 9-to-5 jobs to make ends meet – can better earn a living. That means passing the American Music Fairness Act and ensuring that artists are finally compensated when their music plays on AM/FM radio.”
“Radio conglomerates operating thousands of AM/FM stations across the U.S., make billions in profits, employ legions of lobbyists, and spend millions each year to influence lawmakers, all while continuing to refuse to pay the artists whose songs they play on the airwaves,” said SoundExchange CEO and President Michael Huppe. “This unfair double standard is the result of a loophole – one that can only be closed by Congress by passing the American Music Fairness Act so artists are paid for the work they do.”
The bipartisan American Music Fairness Act requires big radio companies to pay recording artists whose music they play on the air. Currently, AM/FM radio is the only platform that uses music without paying artists – Spotify, Apple Music, Sirius/XM, YouTube, and TikTok all pay artists and it’s only fair that big radio companies do the same. AMFA would close this loophole while also protecting local radio stations. Under the bill, approximately two-thirds of all radio stations in the country would pay as little as $10 to $500 a year for access to unlimited music.
The U.S. is the only democracy in the world that doesn’t pay recording artists when their music is played on AM/FM radio. The United States joins countries such as North Korea, Iran, and Cuba in denying recording artists payment for their work. Even China and Russia pay recording artists for radio plays. As much as $300 million in American royalties are being lost overseas every year because U.S. copyright law doesn’t protect sound recordings on AM/FM radio. Passing AMFA would unlock millions in royalties overseas for American recording artists and bring U.S. copyright law in line with the rest of the industrialized world.
“Just a few notes of a beloved song can transport you a million miles away. Popular music has helped define and reflect the culture in which we live, speaking to our evolving values and shared concerns. It’s outrageous that the recording artists, vocalists and musicians who bring it to life and enrich our lives receive no compensation from airplay on AM/FM radio. It’s downright un-American to exploit people and not pay them. The AMFA legislation will help close that loophole and restore fairness, so that artists are paid when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, just as they are in other mediums. Our gratitude to Reps. Nadler and Issa and Sens. Padilla and Blackburn for taking leadership roles on this important legislation,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher.
“For more than a century, American artists and producers have been denied the basic right to earn compensation for their own creation broadcast on AM/FM Radio. The Recording Academy is grateful for the leadership of Reps. Issa and Nadler and Senators Blackburn and Padilla for introducing the American Music Fairness Act, and we urge Congress to finally pay creators for their work,” added Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy.
Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE, President and CEO, American Association of Independent Music added, “The American Music Fairness Act is long overdue. The radio industry has no valid justification for refusing to compensate the recording artists who form the backbone of their business. Our laws align us with regimes like Iran and North Korea, allowing foreign broadcasters to exploit American musicians without paying them a dime. Congress must hold mega broadcasters accountable to put American musicians first. A2IM commits to working with our congressional champions to get it done.”
“The American Music Fairness Act takes a smart, calibrated approach towards solving a decades old problem in the radio industry. When enacted into law, AMFA will ensure recording artists and copyright owners are paid fairly for recorded music regardless of the technology used to broadcast it while carefully protecting small and noncommercial stations to preserve truly local radio our communities depend upon. This practical, compromise legislation has previously passed the House Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support and we applaud Chairman Issa and his colleagues for working to advance this important legislation,” said Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.
“The American Music Fairness Act (AMFA) will fix a broken and unfair system. Musicians deserve compensation when their work is played on terrestrial radio. On this issue, the United States is out of step with the rest of the free world. AMFA will correct that. Thank you, Reps. Issa and Nadler, for recognizing the value of our work,” continued Tino Gagliardi, International President of the American Federation of Musicians.
The American Music Fairness Act offers a balanced solution that ensures recording artists are fairly compensated when their songs are played on AM/FM radio, while also allowing small, independent broadcasters to thrive. Every Democratic and Republican presidential administration since the 1970s, including the Trump and Biden Administrations have supported a paid performance right for sound recordings in the United States. Recent polling shows that 70% of Americans support passing the American Music Fairness Act as well.
musicFIRST works to ensure music creators get fair pay for their work on all platforms and wherever and however it is played. We rally the people and organizations who make and love music to end the broken status quo that allows AM/FM to use any song ever recorded without paying its performers a dime. And to stand up for fair pay on digital radio — and whatever comes next.
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