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From Jerry Del Colliano’s Inside Music Media blog: "John Simson [photo below], the executive director of SoundExchange,… is right.

"He wrote in a recent Inside Radio commentary ‘People should be fairly paid for the work they do‘. I think what Simson means is that record labels and artists should be fairly paid for the work they do.

"But radio stations should be fairly paid for the work they do — sell the record labels’ product.

"In other words, while Simson is trying to put the squeeze on radio stations for additional performance fees [recent RAIN coverage here], radio stations should be charging the labels and artists for all the free exposure and, dare I say, repetition that radio has always given recorded music…

"I remind my USC students that the record industry was hell bent on stopping the free exposure of music back when phonograph records were first played on the air… The labels thought it was tantamount to giving their music away for free — not unlike their present paranoia about digital downloading as a curse instead of a promotional tool…

"Radio let the labels get away with this hijacking of profits that could not have existed without radio airplay… If the radio industry lets the labels get away with imposing even one percentage point of performance taxes, it deserves to preside over its own demise…

"And if any wimpy radio people are worried that the labels will turn to the Internet, well, forgive me for laughing so hard. Record labels don’t know what to do with the Internet now — even while radio is playing their music for free…

"Labels, be careful what you wish for, if you get it you’ll help kill off the free promotion machine known as terrestrial radio.

"Radio, be careful what you wish for, if you get only a small tax on the music you play, the next inevitable step is a tax increase."

Read the entire blog post at Inside Music Media.

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