Local broadcasting professionals are asking our nation’s leaders to stand up for local radio.
During the National Association of Broadcaster’s State Leadership Conference in Washington D.C., members of the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association joined their contemporaries from around the country to address issues facing the broadcast industry.
One of those issues is a performance tax, which Seehafer Broadcasting Vice-President Terry Stevenson says has been at the forefront of broadcasters’ agenda for decades.
“The music industry, the record labels, they have been…asking ultimately that radio stations pay a performance tax every time music is played, in addition to the license that we already pay for to play the music,” he explained.
Stevenson previously pointed out that this tax would allow record labels to double dip on those songs and says it would cripple your favorite radio station.
“If radio stations are now required to pay a performance tax, this would be absolutely critical to so many small town radio station ownership groups,” Stevenson noted.
The NAB has asked legislators in Congress and Senate to support their “Local Radio Freedom Act” and oppose what the music industry is calling the “American Music Freedom Act.”
Stevenson did note that over 200 legislators on both sides of the political aisle have voiced their support for the Local Radio Freedom Act, which will help keep the local radio industry alive and well.
The NAB also spoke with legislators on keeping AM radio in vehicles among other topics.
