musicFIRST survey addresses Big Radio's 'outdated myths'

By Emmanuel Legrand

US artists' advocacy group musicFIRST has commissioned a new national poll which shows that 52% of Americans believe it’s unfair that artists are not paid when their music is played on traditional radio, compared to just 27% who say the opposite. 

  The survey was published as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which represents most of the USA's commercial radio stations, is ramping up its lobbying efforts in Congress to oppose attempts to introduce legislation that would make radio stations pay for the use of sound recordings. 

  The survey also shows that 6 out of 10 Americans did not know that artists don’t get paid when their music is played on traditional radio, when 57% said they did know that artists receive were paid when their music was played on streaming services like Spotify and SiriusXM. 

Congress should side with artists

  When asked if Members of Congress should side with between broadcasters who want to continue to play music for free and artists who want to be paid when their music is played, 46% of the respondents chose artists against 28% who said they should side with broadcasters. 

  musicFIRST said the survey shows that "the American public isn’t buying many of the outdated myths that Big Radio will attempt to sell to lawmakers in the days ahead." 

  The poll was commissioned by musicFIRST and conducted online via SurveyMonkey from April 27-29, 2021, with a national sample of 1,780 Americans.