Bo Carter has a chance to be recognized as Texas Music Awards Male Vocalist of the Year. And he’s smart enough to realize that he wouldn’t be recognized at all without the promotional benefit of radio airplay.
Carter told Texas Monthly, “I would like for everyone to get paid more but that’s not how I see myself making money as an artist. If people don’t hear my music on the radio, they don’t know to come to the shows or buy the CD. I don’t see any reason to nickel and dime the people who are promoting us.”
Carter was referring to the Performance Rights Act, which would hit radio stations with performance royalty fees, 50% of which would go to record labels rather than performers. The stations already pay the songwriters – in fact, Carter also wears that hat and does collect royalties for the broadcast of tunes he has written.
Broadcasters object to PRA since it takes no account of the promotional value of free airplay in terms of promoting the sale of recordings, concert tickets and other paraphernalia marketed by musicians.
Carter is a member of Country band Highspeed Hayride, and is not to be confused with the Blues singer of the same name who died at age 71 back in 1964.
RBR-TVBR observation: The record labels allowed the internet to dissolve their business model – radio had nothing to do with it – and they need to figure out how to monetize their product again. That doesn’t take away the need to promote it, however. Radio’s free advertising is still important, and it’s good to see that some of the artists still get it, even if the labels do not.
