Marcia Hines Joins Chorus On Fair Play For Radio Bill

The call for the government to legislate the scrapping of the 1% fee cap on radio airplay for sound recordings has heated up this week, with respected Aussie singer Marcia Hines slamming the ‘unfair’ cap.

In a forceful plea to legislators, Hines outlined the situation being faced by artists.

“My songs are my livelihood,” she said. “I put everything I have into making them. So I’m proud and grateful that people out there appreciate that hard work. And I think it’s about time that our $1 billion radio industry does the same. Radio gets paid plenty of money by the advertisers who want to reach listeners. But what keeps people listening to the radio? Music! No music, no radio.

“This outdated legislation doesn’t reflect the amount of work that goes into creating a song and it means that artists out there are out of pocket. Radio is killing the radio stars. Please support this bill to make a change.”

The private Senators’ bill sponsored by Independent ACT Senator David Pocock was introduced to parliament in August last year and has been the source of fierce debate between the music industry and radio.

The cap, instituted 55 years ago to protect a still-developing radio sector, means that rights holders cannot charge more than 1% of revenue to commercial radio and the ABC cannot be charged more than 0.5c per head of population.

The strange situation means that songwriters receive up to ten times more from radio than the artists and rightsholders of the sound recordings.

Commercial Radio & Audio CEO Ford Ennals, who exited the role this week, lashed the music industry last November with threats that if the cap were to be removed, then radio would push for the quotas to ensure Australian music is played also be scrapped.

An open letter signed by over 500 Australian artists pushed for the change, while ARIA and PPCA CEO Annabelle Herd slammed CRA’s claims of major losses to the radio industry due to any change as ‘hysterical’.

Members of the radio and music industries were grilled by a Senate committee in March over the proposed changes with the fight now continuing as the legislation comes closer to being voted on.

Speaking before the committee, Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey said: “We’re not asking for a handout…all we want is a negotiation”.

Hunters and Collectors frontman Mark Seymour continued: “I don’t really understand why commercial radio is a protected species in this area.”

With Commercial Radio and Audio currently without a long-term CEO, the organisation’s campaign to keep the cap is likely to need a reset, while the music industry’s pressure continues to mount.

With pain being felt across the festival industry and new Australian music continuing to struggle for traction, a win here would be a much-needed victory as the local industry tries to put itself back on a path to recovery.

📣 'Radio is killing the radio stars' @themarciahines

If you'd like to support the 'Fair Pay for Radio Play' campaign, an Open Letter is in circulation for artists to sign – please sign and/or share via link in bio 🔗 #fairplayforradioplay #timeforchange #ausmusic #PPCA #ARIA pic.twitter.com/aRjpin2qTP

— PPCA (@ppca) April 18, 2024