Bill jeopardizes campus radio

How much would you pay to listen to music on the radio? The newly anticipated, student run UND radio station is facing a tough start because of that very question.

The Performance Rights Act is a proposed bill that would essentially "bail out the record industry," requiring radio stations to pay royalty fees, similar to a tax, when music is played on the air; the breakdown: record labels would receive 50 percent, artists 45 percent, musicians and background singers 5 percent.

Who would be hit the hardest? Small and independent radio stations such as college radio. An annual flat rate would be calculated according to a radio stations' revenue, an estimated $500 a year for small stations, $5,000 for medium stations and much more for larger stations. Many say that's big money adding up year after year that they don't have.

"It's a two-fold dilemma. If radio stations are charged more to play music, they are going to have to charge more for advertising, and in this economy that's gong to be tough to do, especially for the small town stations," said Jackie DeMolee, Board of Student Publications (BOSP) chair. Opponents of the law feel that free radio is a promotional tool for new artists, new songs and the music industry as a whole and have said that the Performance Rights Act is just another avenue for money-hungry record labels and artists who already earn millions. But, record labels and artists say they have been hit hard by the economic crisis like everyone else, and finally deserve a portion of the billions of dollars of yearly radio industry profits.

Proponents also say musicians have had to perform into their early 70's to earn money. The new law would pay fees half to labels and almost half to artists, who have been increasingly owning their own labels.

St. Cloud State University student run radio gets approximately $14,000 a year from Student Government funding. Their total operations are nearly two thousand dollars more, roughly 16,000 total, an amount they need to make up in advertising and raising money. The new $500 imposed tax would represent 25% of what they need to just break even.

A non-commercial terrestrial license by the FCC is around $40,000 to start up, which is why UND students are looking to team up with University Police Department in a frequency or go with internet radio for the time being.

The bill has been introduced and passed by committees, now the House and Senate need to vote along with the President's pen. Like free radio? Take 30 seconds to sign the online petition and send a letter to your congressperson. http://saveyourradio.org/