The proposed "radio royalty" battle's newest weapons - sausage pizzas & a giant inflatable pig
If you were driving past the National Association of Broadcaster’s offices in Washington, DC today, you would have driven right past an 18-foot long and over a story-tall pink pig (picture courtesy of The Hill), bearing the statement “Fair Pay for Musicians.” The pig is the latest salvo fired by supporters of the Performance Rights Act, in an effort to get radio stations to pay added royalties for the music they play. Not to be outdone, the NAB handed out sausage pizza to the protesters. NAB EVP Dennis Wharton tells The Hill, “We're suggesting they provide this food to the scores of exploited musicians who have had to sue their record label to recoup allegedly unpaid album royalties.” This week’s events follow the press conference held by singer Dionne Warwick in favor of the proposed royalty tax, and a mid-week rally by DC-area broadcasters.
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CEO Jeff Haley has made few changes since he took over for longtime RAB chief Gary Fries - until now. Haley's re-structuring the national marketing department into two units: a business development group dedicated to calling on "key advertisers", and a new Marketing/Communications department to be run by Leah ("LAY-uh") Kamon, who joins from Haley's former company, Time Warner. Kamon takes the position of Senior VP, Marketing & Communications, and she'll report directly to Haley. Expect more to come about the "Radio 2020" initiative that was announced at last Fall's NAB Radio Show in Charlotte - something Kamon will be focusing on. One consequence of the re-organization is that 12-executive VP of National Marketing Mary Bennett is leaving, with Haley saying she's done "25 years of work in her 12 years here."
