John Williamson leads hit parade of artists calling for radio to pay more than ‘bugger all’ for music

Artists and music industry advocates have come out in support of a new Fair Pay for Radio Play bill. See what they have to say.

Australian country music legend John Williamson leads a hit parade of local artists demanding radio fork out more for playing music after a “very good run paying next to bugger all”.

Artists and music industry advocates have welcomed the Fair Pay for Radio Play bill, announced by Senator David Pocock, which would scrap legislation introduced in 1968 which limits how much commercial radio pays for broadcasting music to one per cent of revenue.

The ABC royalty payments have been capped at 0.5¢ per head of the Australian population for 55 years, with no adjustment for inflation and without consideration that networks including Triple J have sprung up since the rate was legislated in the 1960s.

True Blue legend John Williamson said radio has paid “next to bugger all” to artists for more than 50 years. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Australian radio paid $4.4 million to play songs in 2021-22 – equal to 0.4 per cent of gross industry revenue – under the blanket licence fee while the ABC paid $136,000.

Australia is the only country in the world with this copyright law which prevents artists and labels from negotiating sound recording royalties.

True Blue star Williamson wrote an open letter saying it was time for “Radio Station Executives” to get “fair dinkum”, asking “where you would be without music?”

“I reckon over 50 years you’ve had a very good run paying next to bugger all for the use of our property, which is not cheap to produce,” he wrote.

“Don’t hate me for asking for more, guys. It’s all about being fair dinkum.

“I’m not thinking of me after 53 years in the business; it’s for our future creators, keeping them going.”

John Williamson’s open letter to “Radio Station Executives”. Picture: Supplied.

Peking Duk’s Adam Hyde said “radio is not the real issue” but rather the outdated legislation which is out of step with the rest of the world. The new Bill proposed by Senator Pocock would remove the caps from the Copyright Act.

“The issue is an outdated limit set by Government over 50 years ago. Times have changed a lot and it is so important to get this right for all recording artists to be fairly paid for their music,” Hyde said.

“In a world where it seems creativity is constantly being overlooked financially, it’s time we take a step towards making things right, or at the very least, a tiny bit better than they are at the moment.”

Peking Duk’s Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles say the caps are outdated. Picture: Jonathan Ng

First Nations artist and award-winning rapper Briggs, who also runs his own Bad Apples label, said the cap did not “reflect the amount of work that goes into creating a song.”

“Remove the cap and pay artists fairly,” he said.

Commercial Radio & Audio head Ford Ennals said the bill was a cash grab by the PPCA, which distributes sound recording royalties, and record labels and would impact the sustainability of local radio stations.

The industry body’s CEO claimed the proposed removal of the cap could “backfire by simply directing more money to the record labels” rather than artists.

“Unlike the $30 million in APRA royalties that go directly from the radio industry to artists each year, the PPCA fees go directly to multinational record labels – and there is zero visibility of how much is ultimately distributed to artists,” he said.

“Increasing fees to global record labels, which boast revenues many times the size of the entire Australian radio industry, is simply not the best way to support local musicians.”

But the majority of Australian artists are signed to independent labels, whose albums and singles may be distributed by major companies including Sony, Warner and Universal.

CRA may threaten to play less music if the royalty cap was removed but that would likely result in listeners turning to streaming platforms to play their favourite songs.

And artists would also likely limit their availability for interviews and performances on air and for radio station promotions if their music wasn’t being played.

Originally published as John Williamson leads hit parade of artists calling for radio to pay more than ‘bugger all’ for music