The Performance Rights Act: Radio Broadcasting Faces Major Challenge in Long Battle Against Music Licensing

In 2009, Congressional subcommittees approved a bill which would impose a performance fee on radio stations playing music over the air, known as the Performance Rights Act (PRA). Passage of the PRA could historically alter the relationship between the radio broadcast industry and the music industry. Terrestrial broadcast radio stations have paid music licensing agencies fees to songwriters and composers but never to the artists. This study examines the acrimonious relationship radio broadcasters have had with the music licensing agencies over the past eight decades, and the potential impact of the PRA on the future of terrestrial radio.