Performance Tax: Myths vs. Facts

Big record labels are asking the government to impose a new performance fee, essentially a tax, on local radio stations. This is in addition to the billions of dollars in free promotion provided by the radio industry to labels and artists each year. For more than a century, the relationship between radio and performers has thrived to the benefit of listeners, emerging artists, record labels and stations. Despite the record labels’ rhetoric, there is no reason for the government to intercede now. Let’s set the record straight.