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The American Music Fairness Act : Pass The Act, Grammy U Calls For Radio Royalties

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American Music Fairness Act

In this op-ed, members of GRAMMY U argue that American performers deserve to be compensated for radio plays.

BY GRAMMY U LEADERSHIP

If you’ve heard the term once, you’ve likely heard it a thousand times: starving artist. It’s become a common notion in our popular culture that artists must go through a prolonged — or even permanent — period of financial hardship to pursue their dreams of, in our case, making music for a living. To some, this notion of living through poverty to pursue one’s passion may even be seen as noble and necessary for making truly great art.

But it’s important that we call this idea what it is: complete and utter nonsense.

To be sure, plenty of great music has been made from a place of want and hunger, both literal and figurative. If that’s how an artist chooses to live their life and make their art, far be it from us to stand in their way. But far too many aspiring musicians, such as ourselves, never get to make that choice.

The musicians of tomorrow deserve better. We deserve better. After all, we’re no different than anybody else. We want the same things that most people do: a fulfilling job that pays enough to get ahead; the ability to provide for ourselves and our loved ones; and the opportunity to own a home and build a good life. We just want to achieve those things while making music we love.

To do that, artists and musicians like us need to be compensated fairly for the hard work that goes into our music — but unfortunately, that’s not how it is right now. Songwriters get paid for radio plays, but performers do not. For decades, big corporations that own and control thousands of radio stations in the United States have refused to pay performers when they play their music on AM/FM radio. That’s right, they take our product and use it to make billions of dollars from advertising — and then don’t give us a single cent.

The most puzzling part of this is that it’s all legal. America is the only country in the developed world that doesn’t require broadcasters to pay performers for their work. Even worse, in the too-many-to-count countries where radio does pay artists for their music, American artists still get stiffed  because our country doesn’t reciprocate. Imagine, the richest country on Earth, treating the people who make the soundtrack to our lives as if their life’s work is worthless — and allowing a bunch of obsolete laws to say that’s perfectly okay.

No wonder we’ve normalized the notion that artists must constantly make sacrifices to pursue their passion. With the status quo as broken as it is, how are young people like us supposed to make a career out of music without dooming ourselves to a lifetime of financial insecurity? Maybe a few will rise to stardom and headline arena tours, making them financially secure, but what about the rest of us? What about the everyday artists? How are we going to provide for ourselves and our families in a country that allows corporate radio to use our work without even the most basic fairness of paying us for our work?

It’s almost enough to scare you out of chasing your dreams. We probably won’t be able to fix everything overnight, but there is one big thing we can do immediately to start making this right: Pass the American Music Fairness Act.

This bipartisan bill was introduced in the House this summer. It would change the law so radio stations are required to pay artists when they play their songs. The legislation exempts small and non commercial broadcasters, such as college radio stations, but it would finally force radio corporations that can afford to pay to stop exploiting artists.

Changing the law would change the game. That’s why we need to make sure Washington hears our voices, loud and clear. 

If you’re a young person who’s working to build a career making music, or just a fan who wants the next generation of artists to have a fair shot, join us in signing this petition to tell Congress to pass the American Music Fairness Act right now. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a better tomorrow for the next generation of music makers: to ensure that our work is valued, that our future is secure, and that our dreams are possible.We may be hungry to achieve our goals, but that doesn’t mean we should have to starve to do it.

The 14 coauthors are regional chapter representatives of GRAMMY U, a program of the Recording Academy that connects college students with the music industry’s brightest and most talented minds. Each serves as the voice of the GRAMMY U members in their area, including:

Kalee Kitchens (Atlanta); Kirsten Calabrese (Chicago); Carlie Anderson (Florida); Alondra Lopez (Los Angeles); Emma Hampton (Memphis); Nicole Lewis (Nashville); Sam Merkin (National); Cyrus Burns (New Orleans); Dani Friedman (New York); Cameron Mangione (Pacific Northwest); Breana Phelps (Philadelphia); Cathryn Flores (San Francisco); Alany Rodriguez (Texas); Nia Burnley (Washington, DC)

 Currently the traditional fm stations in US do not pay artists for the music they play on radio but rather pay  songwriters based on the current copyright law. Neither the artist nor the studio professional behind the song get paid.

The Music Fairness Act is a good initiative because, artists, producers, performers and creators would get paid for radio plays and also there would be equality in the copyright law.

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Jay-Z’s net worth reaches $2.5 billion, extends lead as richest rapper alive

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JAY-Z has cemented his lead as the world’s richest rapper with a net worth of $2.5 billion.

The new figure is reportedly due to money for Armand de Brignac champagne and D’Usse cognac, a business venture that belonged to the rapper, until recently.

Interestingly, this increase in wealth comes without Hov, as he is often called, releasing a new album or going on tour.

Jay-Z’s net worth reaches $2.5 billion, extends lead as richest rapper alive

In February, it was announced that JAY-Z had reached a settlement in his legal battle with D’USSE.

According to Bloomberg, HOV and Bacardi managed to settle a multi-billion dollar lawsuit that saw the Brand buy Jay’s stake in the company for $750 million. However, the rapper is said to retain a “significant interest,” indicating the acquisition of JayZ’s majority stake while he retains a minority stake within the company.

JAY said in his statement, “Growing D’USSÉ over the past decade from an idea to one of the fastest-selling spirits in history has been a blessing,”

Jay-Z’s net worth reaches $2.5 billion, extends lead as richest rapper alive

According to TMZ, JayZ and Bacardi’s partnership began in 2011, and Hov intended to take over all of D’Usse’s books, records and deposits on drinks and accessories. Sources claimed that he also wanted physical inventory and process details.

The lawsuit states that the rapper “intended to monitor [Bacardi’s] business conduct to protect SC’s rights as a partner.”

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Tom Cruise avoids Will Smith to protect his own ‘reputation’ in Hollywood

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Tom Cruise avoids Will Smith to protect his own ‘reputation’ in Hollywood

Tom Cruise will be next seen in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’

Tom Cruise has reportedly been distancing himself from Will Smith. Sources close to the Top Gun: Maverick star have revealed that he’s not willing to risk his reputation following the King Richard actor’s infamous Oscars slapgate.

According to sources close to the actors, Smith, 53, has been trying to reconnect with Cruise in hopes of collaborating on a new project that would help revive his career.

However, Cruise, 60, has been avoiding Smith as he’s refused to respond to his messages. Hollywood experts believe that the Mission: Impossible star is concerned that associating with Smith could potentially harm his reputation.

“Will has approached Tom several times, trying to reconnect and see if they can hang out and brainstorm on some projects together. A solid movie with Tom would guarantee Will’s comeback, or so he thinks,” revealed insiders.

“Will has even offered to fly to London if that’s more convenient, but Tom isn’t biting and doesn’t even write him back.”

On the professional front, Smith was last seen in Emancipation, which earned critical praise and generated buzz in Hollywood.

Cruise, on the other hand, will be next seen in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

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Storage Wars’ star Gunter Nezhoda dies aged 67 after losing battle with cancer just months after diagnosis

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Gunter Nezhoda died in sleep in Salt Lake City from lung cancer complications.

The ‘Storage Wars’ star Gunter Nezhoda has died aged 67 after losing his battle with cancer, just six months after his diagnosis.

Nezhoda died in his sleep in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night as a result of complications from lung cancer, his son and fellow ‘Storage Wars’ star Rene Nezhoda told TMZ.

Rene said Nezhoda was diagnosed with lung cancer in September after smoking for 30 years – but the chemotherapy treatment left holes on his lungs.

Nezhoda flew to Utah for an emergency surgery to treat his lungs, but medics said there was nothing more they could do for him, Rene said.

In a video, Rene said: ‘I’m telling you guys this because I know that you guys connected with my dad.

The ‘Storage Wars’ star Gunter Nezhoda (pictured right with his son Rene on Storage Wars) has died aged 67 after losing his battle with cancer , just six months after his diagnosis

My dad was one of the guys on Storage Wars that never really got any hate, people just loved him and being around him, including the crew.

‘Everybody loved working with my dad, so I appreciate the support.

‘A lot of people have been asking how my dad is doing and I just haven’t really talked about anything because we kept it private and we thought he was going to fully recover but unfortunately he didn’t.

‘He was 67 years old and all the love that you guys have shown him and support he really appreciated that.

‘And so hopefully he’s up there in heaven with my mom, dancing again with no more pain.’

Rene said Nezhoda’s son, Ricky, was with him when he passed away on Tuesday.

Gunter, who was born in Vienna and then lived in Frankfurt, Germany for ten years before moving to Las Vegas in 1990, starred in seven episodes of ‘Storage Wars’ from 2015-2019.

He was also a movie star and worked on Bass with the musicians Pat Travers, Leslie West, Michael Schenker, George Lynch, and Kevin Dubrow.

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