AFL-CIO Calls on Lawmakers to Oppose Internet Radio Legislation

The AFL-CIO is joining the music industry in opposing legislation favored by Internet radio provider Pandora and some broadcasters that would lower the royalties paid to performers by Internet radio stations.

The labor group said it opposes the legislation introduced last month by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) because it is concerned it will result in much less revenues for musical artists. The bills would require the federal government's royalty rate-setting body known as the Copyright Royalty Board to use the same standard in determining rates paid by Internet radio stations as is used for satellite and cable music providers. Internet radio stations like Pandora complain that they pay much higher royalties than cable and satellite providers. The legislation "would mandate that more than eighteen hundred Internet radio stations pay recording artists and musicians far less than their recordings are worth, just because three digital services do," William Samuel, director of the AFL-CIO's government affairs department, wrote lawmakers last week in a letter released on Thursday. "This would start a race to the bottom in performers' compensation, violating the founding principle of America's labor movement: a fair day's work deserves a fair day's pay."