‘Keep our industry alive’: Thousands of radio employees urge Senate not to raise musician royalties
Thousands of employees across Australian commercial radio stations have signed off on a letter sent to Senate by peak body Commercial Radio and Audio (CRA) that warns an increase in musical royalties paid to artists will “threaten the sustainability of our stations”.
Current copyright legislation caps the total amount of royalties that Australian radio broadcasters are required to pay to musicians and labels to 1% of a station’s yearly revenue.
ARIA and PPCA, who represent the musicians, argue that the cap is unfair and outdated, having been introduced over half a century ago.
The letter from the CRA claims any increase to fees paid to artists would be unsubstantial for the commercial radio industry as a whole.
“We are an adaptable and resilient industry but the pressures on radio continue to mount,” the letter argues.
“Like any commercial industry we feel the pain of economic cycles and the cost-of-living crisis. We face increasing competition from other mediums, particularly international streaming services, which do not operate under the same strict regulatory conditions as radio.”
The letter to Senate was signed by big-hitters, such as Ray Hadley, as well as thousands of station staffers from across the country, who argue “we may not have the same rockstar name recognition as the Australian artists whose music we play, but we are the local voices of our communities”.
It follows a submission signed by 500 Australian musicians (some with rockstar name recognition) including Daryl Braithwaite, Paul Kelly, Kate Ceberano, and the Hoodoo Gurus, urging for the removal of the cap.
“This is a push from Australian recording artists and industry professionals for fair pay on par with legislation around the world,” ARIA and PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd told Mumbrella last month, dismissing “CRA’s hysterical claims” that musical copyright collecting society PPCA is pushing for the increase in royalties because any extra money is “pocketed by PPCA’s members who are multinational record companies with combined revenues more than 40 times the size of the entire Australian radio industry”.
Herd told Mumbrella: “There are substantial measures in place to prevent an extortionate rate being applied to commercial radio. There is a reason there is no other cap like this in any other type of copyright in Australia.
“The bulk of the fees paid by radio to ‘musicians’ is paid to songwriters, not recording artists, last year CRA paid just $4.4 million for the use of sound recordings despite turning over around $1 billion.
“PPCA royalties go to the registered artists and rights holders of the sound recording itself, Senator Pocock demonstrated this disjuncture perfectly: At the moment, we have odd examples where if a station plays ‘Khe Sanh’, songwriter Don Walker will be paid a greater royalty than Jimmy Barnes.
“This is not an example of bullying from international record labels, nor is it an example of PPCA withholding royalty fees from the artists themselves as is suggested.”
After publishing Herd’s above quote, Commercial Radio Australia chief Ford Ennals (below) took issue with Herd’s wording, telling Mumbrella: “It is unfair to label anyone ‘hysterical’ when, quite frankly, people’s jobs are potentially on the line.
“This issue is a matter of critical importance to the future of local radio stations, particularly in the regions.”
The full letter, as sent to Senate, is below, sans the thousands of signatures below.
Dear Committee
We are all working members of the Australian commercial radio industry and we thank the Committee members for the opportunity to have our voices heard on the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023.
Those of us in Australian commercial radio can attest to the following – we are dedicated to this industry because we love radio. We love the role it plays in our communities. We love informing, entertaining, and connecting with our listeners. Commercial radio is more immediate and more personal than any other medium. As politicians and public figures, you would appreciate that calling in to the local radio station in any region is the quickest, most direct way to talk to constituents.
We are an adaptable and resilient industry but the pressures on radio continue to mount. Like any commercial industry we feel the pain of economic cycles and the cost-of-living crisis. We face increasing competition from other mediums, particularly international streaming services, which do not operate under the same strict regulatory conditions as radio.
Commercial radio loves Australian music. We recognise that we play an important role in the promotion of local talent and we consider this a privilege. We also very much want to see Australian musicians, songwriters, and artists paid fairly. But radio is already paying a fair amount to play the music required to meet the legislated quotas. Every year we pay almost $40 million in fees to APRA and PPCA. If the 1% cap on PPCA fees were scrapped, then it would threaten the sustainability of our stations. This in turn would hurt Australian music and Australian communities. We believe the solution lies not in scrapping the 1% cap, but instead taking a close look at how those fees are distributed.
We may not have the same rockstar name recognition as the Australian artists whose music we play. But we are the local voices of our communities. We are the station managers, the announcers, the sales teams, the panel operators, the engineers, the newsreaders, the journalists, the content directors, the music directors, the producers, the cleaners, the content makers, the marketing teams, the traffic coordinators. Please keep the cap in place to keep our industry alive.
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Nathan Jolly is the Deputy Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
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