Portnow: Artists No Longer Thank Radio

Neil Portnow

Neil Portnow, CEO of the Recording Academy, has criticized the radio industry in an op-ed for RadioInk, noting the sector’s failure to implement an industry standard for paying performance royalties to artists whose music is played on air.

According to Variety, Portnow identified the issue as the driving force behind a widening chasm between artists and the radio industry, illustrated by the complete lack of artists thanking radio during their Grammy acceptance speeches; according to Portnow, thanking radio used to be standard in such speeches. Portnow also pointed out that the audience segment that listens to radio in the car is literally dying out, as new generations increasingly turn to streaming services on their cell phones and in the car.

“The lack of a radio performance rights is the only instance in our economy where one party can use another’s intellectual property without permission or compensation,” he wrote.

As head of the Recording Academy, which represents music creators, including artists, songwriters, producers, and studio professionals, and puts on the annual Grammy Awards, Portnow has long advocated royalty reform. He previously penned an op-ed titled “The Penny Paradox” in 2016 in which he also criticized streaming services for their notoriously low royalty payments to artists.

Under the current statutes, songwriters are paid for broadcasts of their songs, but the artists who perform those songs are not. There are several bills currently winding their way through Congress and the DOJ that address royalty reform, including the Fair Play Fair Pay Act, which directly focuses on the broadcast royalty issue, and the Copyright Accountability Act, which seeks to make the Register of Copyrights a presidential-appointed, Senate-confirmed position.