Corporate broadcasters boast about big profits when talking to Wall Street, then cry poor to Congress when music creators ask to be paid for their work
Washington, DC, August 4, 2022 – Following the the release of iHeartMedia’s Q2 earnings, Congressman Joe Crowley, Chairman of the musicFIRST Coalition, issued the following statement:
“Once again, greedy broadcasters are brazenly showing their hypocrisy. During their quarterly earnings calls this week, iHeart and Cumulus crowed to Wall Street about how much money they are making. At the same moment they are spotlighting their dramatic profit increases, on Capitol Hill, they whine to lawmakers about how they can’t afford to pay music creators a single cent when their music is played on AM/FM radio. It’s long past time for us to stop subsidizing Big Radio’s profits off the backs of hard-working artists. It’s time for Congress to stand with artists — and 70% of the American public — by swiftly passing the American Music Fairness Act, which requires multi-billion-dollar radio corporations to finally pay their fair share. It’s just the right thing to do.”
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About musicFIRST
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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