Stevie Wonder: PROs Squeezing on Indie Radio Owners.

Story by Inside Radio
Photo by Kris Conner

Stevie Wonder isn’t just a legendary musician, he’s also been the owner of urban AC “Radio Free 102.3” KJLH, Los Angeles for the past four decades. And that’s given him a unique perspective on the issue of music copyrights and royalties. Wonder, like all other broadcasters, has faced increased expenses this year as Global Music Rights joined fellow performance rights organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC in requiring stations sign a licensing agreement.

“What is happening to independent station owners is that we are facing higher costs to play the music our audience wants to hear, but with no decent explanation of the how and why these higher costs are justified,” Wonder writes in an op-ed in Billboard magazine. “We have societies that lose significant artists to other societies but make no adjustment in the fees they charge to stations for their remaining roster. It almost feels like we are paying for the same thing twice.”

Wonder says GMR and SESAC—the two for-profit entities not governed by the Department of Justice’s consent decrees that keep a lid on ASCAP and BMI—aren’t using a fair and open system to determine how much stations like KJLH pay songwriters. And as a standalone station owner Wonder says he doesn’t have any leverage to negotiate. “We have chaos, unfairness and inequity,” he writes.

As a songwriter himself, Wonder says he wants to make sure he and his brethren are treated fairly by music users but his outreach to the music community pulls from his experience as a radio station owner in urging the industry to find an economic model that works for both artists and broadcasters. “I am not suggesting that any of our performing rights organizations need to fold their tent, but I am concerned that the current state of affairs could lead to an even greater breakdown of fairness and equality among broadcasters that can’t afford ever increasing costs,” Wonder says.

His op-ed comes as the radio industry prepares to sit down and begin negotiating a new SESAC rate with a court-appointed arbitrator and as the Radio Music Licensing Committee remains locked in a pair of antitrust lawsuits with upstart GMR. “To me, this shouldn’t have to be left to a court to decide,” Wonder writes. “We are all in this creative community together, stations and artists, and we should be able to find ways to recognize the vital role we play in each other’s lives to everyone’s mutual benefit. But there needs to be give and take.”

In the meantime, the deadline for signing an interim license has now passed and GMR says many stations have signed interim contracts through Sept. 30 including several of the big operators such as Cumulus Media, CBS Radio, Cox Media Group, Emmis and Saga Communications. Two groups—iHeartMedia and Townsquare Media—earlier signed licensing deals for more than 1,100 stations with GMR.

Beyond copyrights and royalties, Wonder also makes the case for radio’s constant and continued role as an entertainment source. “Radio’s role in music is undeniable,” he writes. “Radio’s influence on the tastes of the masses is almost unmatched in reach and effect, primarily because of the ease and comfort afforded its listeners. And no matter how much current artists embrace new technology and platforms to spread their music, if you ask any one of them, they will still tell you that their biggest kick came from hearing their song on the radio for the first time.”