Update on the Performance Rights Act

I’ve wanted to update my post on the proposed Performance Rights Act for a while, but there really hasn’t been all that much movement on this bill in the past few years.  I find this a little surprising, as it seems like both political parties are in love with the RIAA (and Obama just nominated a former RIAA attorney to take over as solicitor general), and it seems like the few issues the parties agree on would actually have a chance of gaining traction in this era of overheated rhetoric.

The only real news is that a few months back the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the non-partisan arm of Congress tasked with figuring out the economic impact of proposed Congressional bills, issued an interesting and seemingly well-reasoned report on the potential impact of the Performance Rights Act, unsurprisingly noting that the bill would drastically alter the symbiotic relationship by helping musicians and labels at the potentially severe financial detriment of many radio stations.  This may be a sign that the tide of public opinion has shifted somewhat in radio’s favor (well, this and the fact that the bill has not yet passed, despite broad support from the White House and both houses of Congress), but only time will tell.

I’ll write more on this topic as there is more to update.