Aguilera, Buffet, Keith and Legend Team Up on Radio

What are Christina Aguilera, Toby Keith, Jimmy Buffet, and John Legend working on together? No...not a bad-ass, super-friends benefit concert. They are a few of the founding members of MusicFIRST, an organization fighting radio broadcasters for royalties on live music played over the air waves. Presently, broadcasters shell out money to BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC, however no royalties are paid to artists. Mediaweek reports that MusicFIRST plans to unveil their legislative plans today. One idea (from today's Variety) has been a tax imposed on broadcasters by the RIAA.

Opposing the movement, of course, is the National Association of Broadcasters. On the NAB website today, Executive VP Dennis Wharton responded, "Congress has long recognized that radio airplay of music generates millions of dollars in revenue for record labels and artists...Were it not for radio's free promotional airplay of music on stations all over America, most successful recording artists would still be playing in a garage." The NAB is trying to make John Legend look like John Kerry by re-releasing an older Legend radio ad in which the artist praises local radio for giving him his big break. Gander on for the Complete transcript. .

TRANSCRIPT

VOICE OVER: Radio has always supported up and coming artists and connected you with new music. That's why we are giving new R&B artist John Legend the next forty seconds to do whatever he wants.

JOHN LEGEND: Hey, this is John Legend. You know there is a music director of a radio station in Chicago. Her name is Tiffany. I need to call her and thank her.

TIFFANY: Hello

JL: Hello, Tiffany

T: Yes.

JL: This is John Legend. How you doin?

T: What's up! Hey John!

JL: I had to call and thank you. Everywhere I go now, I'm hearin' Ordinary People, every city I go to. You were playin' it and believed in it. I just wanted to thank you for that.

T: Awww, ya. Ordinary People is, like, the number one request for like the last four weeks. I mean even the thugs are callin' in for it. They are like, "Yo uh, can we get that Ordinary People?"

JL: You know I'm just glad y'all did what y'all did because it just shows the power of giving the people what they want to hear. And I'll see you next time I get over there.

T: Alright, thanks man!

JL: Alright, bye.

T: Bye.

BACKGROUND MUSIC: Ordinary People.

VOICEOVER: John Legend, just one of the thousands of new artists we discovered this year. Radio. You hear it here first.