David Byrne: Why radio should pay singers like Beyoncé and Willie Nelson

David Byrne: Why radio should pay singers like Beyoncé and Willie Nelson
Aretha Franklin had a worldwide hit with ‘Respect’ – but she didn’t write the song, Otis Redding did, so she got paid nothing – nothing! – for decades of U.S. radio airplay.

When I tell friends I went to Washington, D.C., to lobby on behalf of the American Music Fairness Act – which will enable musicians to get paid for radio play – they uniformly respond with a look of shock.

“What, you don’t get paid when you’re played on the radio?”“Nope, as a performer I get nothing.”“Does anybody get paid?”“Songwriters and music publishers, but not the artist you hear singing it

And then I tell them that some of the only other countries that don’t pay musicians for radio play are our friends in Cuba, Iran and North Korea. Then they give me an eye roll that says, “That’s crazy!” China used to not pay, but they pay now. Russia pays! Nice bedfellows, eh? Nice example to the rest of the world!

Aretha Franklin had a worldwide hit with “Respect” – but she didn’t write the song, Otis Redding did, so she got paid nothing – nothing! – for decades of U.S. radio airplay. That’s what I’m talking about.