By Dorothy Rowley
AFRO Staff Writer
Radio One founder Cathy Hughes has said a defeat of HRH 868 would be a major victory for Black radio. (Courtesy Photo)
|
(July 12, 2009) - Black radio faces a new wave of problems, one industry insider said this week, threatening stations that have long been a reliable source of news, information and culture among the nation’s African American communities.
The problems stem from a controversial piece of new legislation, House Resolution 848, which drew experts to Washington, D.C. for a congressional hearing this week, including Paul Porter, a media critic who has had a prominent voice in American radio the past 20 years.
Porter said that while its legislative supporters’ "initial concerns were simply to grant performers royalties for radio airplay, the response of broadcasters has opened the door to an array of larger problems than just dwindling revenues."
Formally known as the Performance Rights Act, the bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), was introduced this past February.
Having recently passed an initial vote in a committee chaired by Conyers, the bill would require radio stations as well as networks to ante up royalties to all recording artists whose songs are played over the air waves.
Although H.R. 848 takes into account smaller radio stations, Conyers said that due to the current economic crunch there would be no payment for two years (of royalties) for any station making less than $5 million annually.
Nonetheless, Porter said during Friday’s hearing that “it was quite obvious that all of the participants want minority radio to prosper.”
He said that although members of the broadcast community did not participate, the committee began its dialogue with a focus on "needed financing, updates in Arbitron's rating system and adjustments to HR 848,that would be beneficial for Black radio and the larger broadcast community."
But Porter said the failure by leading Black-owned station owners such as Radio One founder Cathy Hughes to attend the hearing "has reached a new low, by misleading listeners and denying itself a voice at the table that wants to help them."
Said Porter, "There is no excuse for misleading the public. . . When the broadcasters stop acting like communist dictators and listening, maybe Congress can give them the help they desperately need."
Hughes followers include popular syndicated hosts Tom Joyner, Al Sharpton, Michael Baisden, Warren Ballentine, and Yolanda Adams as well as hundreds of radio stations.
According to a post on Black America Web, the bill's opponents agree that "rather than rewarding background musicians and writers, whom the record labels contend are not adequately compensated through artist groups, as much as 50 percent of the new fees collected will go directly into the pocket of record label owners—many of which are headquartered outside the U.S."
Hughes said the bill, which she refers to as reality radio, "could put many Black owned radio stations out of business and force others to abandon their commitment to provide free music, entertainment, news, information, and money losing formats."
While H.R. 848's supporters claim the legislation is designed to support the kind of independent, creative and positive musical artists that have been in demand, Hughes added that nothing could be further from the truth.
She has maintained that a defeat of H.R. 848 could, in essence, save Black radio.
Supporters of the legislation have noted that over the past few decades, Black radio has regressed to the point where the handful of remaining Black-owned radio stations have begun to lose their voices, limiting information and community access.
Less than seven percent of stations are owned by minorities, and Black radio is syndicated 25 times more than its white counterparts. As a result, there has been a significant reduction in a historic community connection with local radio personalities and a loss of identity, supporters of the legislation contend.