The non-members version of the A2IM's 20th newsletter.

Advancing technology is presenting radio broadcasters with new ways to reach their audience, adding billions to the already $21 billion broadcast industry. Unfortunately, due to terrestrial radio's unique exemption from a performance right, artists will not see one cent of that revenue.

Billboard.biz reports that Merlin, the Independent Label Community's digital rights agency, has accumulated more than 12,000 members to-date.

The United States is the only OECD (the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development) country in the world where only the songwriter is paid a royalty when a song is played on terrestrial commercial radio. The performance right holders (which include the featured performing artists, back-up artists and music labels) are not paid any royalty at all for the performance on the radio.

Legislation has been introduced in Congress that would enable labels & artists to get paid a "performance right" whenever a song gets played on traditional, over the air radio.

Independent Label 2008 Grammy Award Results