Lyle Lovett will testify... who's Lyle Lovett?... you know him... he's the country singer with the weird hair... he married Julia Roberts for awhile... yeah, that guy... anyway...
Lyle Lovett will testify on behalf of the MusicFirst Coalition, which is requesting royalties for each time an artist is played on radio. Radio stations claim that the promotion value of radio airplay is enough and they shouldn't have to pay a fee each time they blast the new Maroon 5 jam.
MusicFirst is made up of several groups, including the ever-beloved RIAA. Don't they usually pay to get artists on radio? Now they're trying to pull a 180 and get paid? Weird. Proponents of radio say that MusicFirst is biting the hand that feeds. The Hollywood Reporter says:
By bringing Lovett in to testify, the music industry gives the issue a recognizable face with who commands respect.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahahahahahahaha
Oh wait, they're serious? Alright, let's ignore the hypothetical question of whether MusicFirst deserves money, and look at this pragmatically. If MusicFirst wins the case, and radio stations have to pay each time they play a song, two things will happen:
1) Radio stations will shut down.
2) The stations that don't shut down will rely more heavily on talk radio and will play fewer songs.
So instead of every city having one decent radio station and 3 crappy ones, you'll get 2 crappy ones and a station that gives financial advice all day. Sure, you won't get to hear any new music, but you'll know how to diversify your Roth IRA.
We'll see what happens, but I have to admit, MusicFirst's case is looking pretty strong with Lyle Lockett on its side. Wait, what's that? It's Lyle Lovett? Who the hell is that? Oh, yeah, nevermind, he's not gonna help.
