BUSINESS NEWS: American Middle-Class Musicians are Worth Fighting For

Photo: Blake Morgan (from his Facebook page) | By Blake Morgan, The Hill | The Irish tell the story of a man who arrives at the gates of heaven asking to be let in, and Saint Peter says, “Of course! Just show us your scars.” The man says, “But… I have no scars,” and Saint Peter answers, “What a pity. Was there nothing worth fighting for?”

We musicians are used to fighting. For our livelihoods, our families, our dreams. In recent years we’ve fought battles we’ve neither sought nor provoked, against powerful corporate forces devaluing music’s worth. Streaming companies, music pirates, and AM/FM radio broadcasters who, in the United States, pay nothing –– zero –– to artists for radio airplay.

It’s shocking, but true: The United States is the only democratic country in the world where artists don’t get paid for radio airplay. Only Iran, North Korea, and China stand with the United States in this regard.

Broadcasters make billions of dollars each year off our music, and artists don’t earn a penny. This impacts not only the artist, but session musicians, recording engineers, songwriters. Virtually everyone in music’s economy.

Isn’t being paid fairly for one’s work a bedrock American value?

In recent years, I’ve met with members of Congress about the rocky economic landscape musicians navigate. Each meeting has been memorable and meaningful, but one in particular has stayed with me.

I was explaining to a congressman how these issues don’t just affect the robust bank accounts of superstars, they affect musicians like me. Musicians who, just like other Americans, have families, mortgages, and health insurance to pay. He leaned in with some amazement and said, “Wow…you have a mortgage.”

Before I could fill the sudden awkwardness, he spoke again and quite genuinely. “Forgive me for how naive I just sounded, but we don’t hear that sentiment about musicians often enough.” He continued, “Each day in Congress we trumpet the plight of the middle class, and yet here you sit: a middle-class musician asking for basic fairness.” It was an emotional moment––and in truth––I choked up. It was striking to watch him “get it” in real time, and courageous I thought, for him to say so.

Also, he’s right: I am a middle-class American musician. And perhaps we don’t, in fact, hear musicians described that way often enough. But we should.
> > > > > > > >
Read Blake’s whole story here:
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/580405-american-middle-class-musicians-are-worth-fighting-for

Blake Morgan is singer-song writer, music producer and activist.

H.R.4130 – American Music Fairness Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4130/text

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/580405-american-middle-class-musicians-are-worth-fighting-for

[Thank you to Alex Teitz, http://www.femmusic.com, for contributing this article.]