State Champ Radio politics
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The House Judiciary Committee has sent a letter to the Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, requesting an examination of “concerns” and “emerging issues” related to performing rights organizations (PROs).
In the letter, signed by the committee’s chairmen Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Darrell Issa as well as member Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, two particular areas of concern are addressed: the “proliferation” of new PROs and the lack of transparency about the distribution of general licensing revenue.
The letter, obtained by Billboard, notes the latter issue is of particular importance to independent artists and smaller publishers. “It is difficult to assess how efficiently PROs are distributing general licensing revenue based on publicly available data,” the letter reads. “For example, it is difficult to determine how accurately lesser known and independent artists as well as smaller publishers are being compensated compared to widely popular artists and major publishers.”
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Concerns around transparency at the PROs are not new. The National Music Publishers’ Association, the trade organization representing music publishers, has spoken publicly about it, as have a number of individual songwriters and publishers over the years. These concerns grew last year after BMI, one of the largest PROs in the country, switched its business model from non-profit to for-profit and was acquired by private equity firm New Mountain Capital.
At the end of BMI’s fiscal year 2022, Billboard reported that “for the first time ever, it hardly contains any financial information.”
“I believe that you have a fundamental right to know what it costs you to use a particular collection society now I will tell you that ASCAP gives you a pretty close look at what it costs not exactly, but they give you a pretty close ballpark,” said NMPA CEO and president David Israelite at an Association of Independent Music Publishers’ Meeting in February. “BMI at the end of the last fiscal year we didn’t get that information.”
The letter states that it “request[s] that the Office examine how the various PROs currently gather information from live music venues, music services, and other general licensees about public performance; the level of information currently provided by PROs to the public; whether any gaps or discrepancies occur in royalty distribution; what technological and business practices exist or could be developed to improve the current system; the extent to which the current distribution practices are the result of existing legal and regulatory constraints; and potential recommendations for policymakers.”
The “proliferation” of PROs is a newer concern. Around the world, most countries typically have one PRO for local writers and publishers to join. In the U.S., it works differently. For over a hundred years, ASCAP and BMI have been the primary choices for a songwriter or publisher looking to collect performance royalties in the United States, but there is also the option to go with SESAC instead, a smaller but still important player in the U.S. PRO landscape, which has been around for almost as long.
Since its founding in 2013, Global Music Rights (GMR), a for-profit PRO founded by industry veteran Irving Azoff, has become a heavyweight in the space as well. GMR business model is to focus on a smaller roster of only the top tier of songwriters and then charging a premium to the bars, venues, shops and theaters that wanted to play them. Because their roster includes major artists including Bruce Springsteen, Billie Eilish, Drake, and more, the GMR blanket license became immediately important for licensees to have, no matter the cost.
In 2017, a fifth U.S.-based PRO emerged. AllTrack was founded by media investor and former SESAC-board member Hayden Bower and is designed to focus on indie creators with a tech-forward approach. This year, AllTrack became the fourth U.S. PRO to be accepted by the International Confederation of Socities of Authors and Composers (CISAC), along with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
“Licensees [like bars, restaurants and small businesses] have reported receiving demands for royalties from new entities claiming to represent songwriters… Licensees are concerned that the proliferation of PROs represents an ever-present danger of infringement allegations and potential litigation risk from new and unknown sources,” the letter states.
“We request that the USCO examine the increased costs and burdens imposed on licensees for paying an ever-increasing number of PROs, factors that may be contributing to the proliferation of new PROs, and recommendations on how to improve clarity and certainty for licensees,” it continues.
Perlmutter and the Copyright Office cannot make any specific changes to the way PROs work today, but often letters like this are sent in hopes that it will draw attention to particular issues or become the predicate for a hearing or draft bill.
Taylor Swift isn’t the only famous cat lady throwing her support behind Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and VP candidate Tim Walz. In a missive posted to Instagram on Wednesday night (Sept. 11), Linda Ronstadt gave the two her endorsement, but not before writing a scathing screed directed at former president and Republican presidential nominee […]
The queen of all childless cat ladies finally said her piece on the 2024 presidential election this week, with Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris, denouncing Donald Trump, and dissing JD Vance in one fell swoop — but the Republican VP pick doesn’t think it matters.
In an interview on Fox News’ The Story on Wednesday (Sept. 11), Vance shrugged off the pop star’s dig at his past remarks about Democrats in her post advocating for Harris the night prior — which she signed “Childless Cat Lady” — and dismissed the idea that Swift’s stardom carries much weight in politics. “We admire Taylor Swift’s music,” the Ohio senator began while speaking to host Martha MacCallum, who joked that Swift’s callout would haunt his “dreams and nightmares for years to come.”
“But I don’t think most Americans — whether they like her music, are fans of hers or not — are going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity, who I think is fundamentally disconnected from the interests and problems of most Americans,” he continued. “When grocery prices go up by 20%, it hurts most Americans. It doesn’t hurt Taylor Swift.”
“When housing prices become unaffordable, it doesn’t affect Taylor Swift or any other billionaire,” Vance added, sidestepping the irony of his running mate also being a billionaire celebrity before crossing over into politics in 2016.
Vance did not, however, touch on the “Anti-Hero” singer’s complaint about the Trump campaign using AI-generated images of her in August that falsely portrayed her as a MAGA supporter. In her post endorsing Harris, Swift cited the trespass as one of the main reasons she wanted to speak out about her stance in the 2024 election.
“It really conjured up my fears around AI and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” the 14-time Grammy winner wrote in her endorsement, which she shared moments after Harris and Trump’s ABC News debate Tuesday (Sept. 10). “The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” Swift added. “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. … I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
In the hours following the superstar’s post, Harris played Swift’s “The Man” at a post-debate gathering and Democratic VP pick Tim Walz gushed about Swift “as a fellow cat owner” in an interview. Plus, the duo’s campaign began selling Eras-Tour-inspired friendship bracelets online, quickly selling out.
Trump also had something to say about Swift’s post. “I was not a Taylor Swift fan,” he said on Fox & Friends. “It was just a question of time … she’s a very liberal person, she seems to always endorse a Democrat and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.”
Pop superstar Taylor Swift made it abundantly clear to her followers who she will be voting for in November, and conservative pundit Megyn Kelly is refusing to “Shake It Off.”
In the newest episode of her YouTube series The Megyn Kelly Show, the former Fox News host harshly criticized Swift for supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency this November. Reading out Swift’s full statement posted to her Instagram, Kelly immediately impugned the singer’s character and spread misinformation surrounding some of Harris and Gov. Tim Walz’s proposed policies.
“I’m allowed to criticize Taylor Swift, and I don’t give a sh– who gets upset. This is disgusting,” she said. “If she wants to vote Harris-Walz, she can do it all she wants but to say the reason she is doing it is because of Tim Walz’s stance on LGBTQ? F you, Taylor Swift. And F all of the people who want to see these children have body parts chopped off and watch them sterilized under the age of consent and then will ride off to their multi-gazillion-dollar mansions.”
The conservative host then included Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce in her criticism (despite the fact that Kelce has yet to publicly endorse a candidate in the election), calling the couple the “epitomes of elite snobs” before claiming that the two are not in touch with politics.
“They both have gazillions of dollars,” she said, before adding in anti-vaccine sentiment to the mix. “She doesn’t care what happens to these kids, just like he [Kelce] doesn’t give a sh– what happens to all the young men who take the Pfizer booster he’s been pushing on them.”
Billboard has reached out to Swift’s representatives for comment.
Kelly had previously criticized Kelce for posting an advertisement with Pfizer, where the tight end encouraged fans to get their COVID-19 booster shots. The host claimed that COVID-19 vaccines put youth at greater risk for myocarditis — the CDC, though, says that those who contract COVID-19 are far more likely to contract myocarditis, and that “myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is rare.”
Kelly’s complaint about children having “body parts chopped off” is part of a larger GOP trend of advocating against gender-affirming care for transgender youth. While many pundits and politicians (including former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump) claim that this kind of care involves children routinely having their genitals operated on, experts in the field say surgical intervention is not recommended for minors.
“Genital reconstruction surgery is typically reserved for adults,” Dr. Joshua D. Safer, MD, executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, explained to Billboard in 2022. “Prior to any gender-affirming medical or surgical intervention, all minors must have an intake with a knowledgeable mental health provider internal to our system. Once deemed ready for a medical/surgical intervention, the processes we have for adults are then brought into play.”
In her endorsement of Harris, Swift praised the vice president as a “steady-handed, gifted leader” who “fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” She added that she was “heartened” by Gov. Walz, thanks to his decades-long support for “LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body.
See Megyn Kelly’s rant below:
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Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks look like Harris-Walz supporters in this light, and Democrats are loving it.
Shortly after the “Anti-Hero” singer broke her silence on the 2024 presidential election with a post in support of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign for the White House, the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman followed in her footsteps and endorsed the VP as well Wednesday (Sept. 11). “As my friend @taylorswift so eloquently stated, now is the time to research and choose the candidate that speaks to you and your beliefs,” Nicks wrote on Instagram, sharing a photo of herself with her tiny canine.
“Only 54 days left until the election,” she continued. “Make sure you are registered to vote! Your vote in this election may be one of the most important things you ever do.”
Similar to Swift, who signed her own endorsement “Childless Cat Lady” — a dig at Democrats previously made by Donald Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance — Nicks stamped her post with “Childless Dog Lady.”
The “Edge of Seventeen” singer’s message comes amid a whirlwind 24 hours for the Harris-Walz campaign, which saw Harris debate Trump for the first time on Tuesday (Sept. 10). Shortly afterward, Swift gave her highly anticipated seal of approval on Instagram, writing that she was supporting the former prosecutor because “she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” Swift added at the time. “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
After going head-to-head with Trump, Harris played the 14-time Grammy winner’s “The Man” at a post-debate gathering, Walz gushed about Swift “as a fellow cat owner” in an interview and the Democratic duo began selling Eras-Tour-inspired friendship bracelets on the campaign’s website.
Swift and Nicks famously performed together on the Grammy telecast in 2010. They have seemingly grown closer over the past few years, with Swift giving the rock legend a shout-out on her The Tortured Poets Department track “Clara Bow.” Nicks, who penned a poem specially for the physical copies of Swift’s Billboard 200-topping album, has also said on more than one occasion that the younger star’s Midnights anthem “You’re on Your Own, Kid” has helped her grieve late Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie.
See Nicks’ endorsement of Harris below.
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Donald Trump debated Vice President Kamala Harris last night (September 10) on ABC News, and is now speaking up regarding his showing and outside critique of the debate. In an appearance on a Fox News morning show, Donald Trump blasted two anchors from the network, stating he would not want them modering a potential second debate.
Donald Trump phoned into the Fox & Friends morning show on Wednesday (September 11), accusing moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis of heavily fact-checking his statements and not doing the same for his opponent.
Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy asked the former president if he would consider holding another debate after Fox News offered the opportunity for an undetermined October date. Trump used this moment to attack Fox News anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, based on their criticism of his debate showing against Vice President Harris.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to have Martha and Bret,” Trump said. “I’d love to have somebody else other than Martha and Bret. I’d love to have, frankly, Sean [Hannity] or Jesse [Watters] or Laura [Ingraham]. You know, somebody else. Let’s give let’s give other people a shot.”
Trump continued, “But I didn’t think Martha and Bret were so good last night. Yes, he was. Jesse was fantastic last night. What he said, Jesse. Really got it. Jesse said to Trump once that debate that was we won that debate by a lot. And I wouldn’t want Martha involved.”
When asked if he would accept the October debate offer from Fox News, Trump appeared to sidestep the offer and claimed victory on the debate stage over Harris.
“Well, I’d be less inclined to because we had a great night. We won the debate. We had a terrible, terrible network. I think they were terrible. They should be embarrassed,” Trump said of ABC News. “I mean, they kept correcting me and I said what I said was largely right or I hope it was right. But what they said was absolutely wrong.”
Vice President Harris has said she welcomes a second debate with Donald Trump.
Live on Fox, Trump insults the two Fox anchors who have been pitched as debate moderators – Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum – and says “I wouldn’t want to have” them. He says he would want Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters or Laura Ingraham to host instead. (An obvious non-starter.) pic.twitter.com/uXVJtnYn8L
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 11, 2024
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Photo: Getty
Former president Donald Trump said a lot of outlandish (and demonstrably untrue) things during his Tuesday night (Sept. 10) presidential debate against Vice President Kamala Harris, from claiming people were aborting babies after they’re born to saying immigrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, […]
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are making friendship bracelets, taking the moment and tasting it after earning Taylor Swift‘s endorsement.
Soon after the pop star finally broke her silence on the 2024 presidential election, throwing her support behind the Democratic ticket with an Instagram post signed “Childless Cat Lady” Tuesday night (Sept. 10), the VP and her running mate unveiled beaded bracelets spelling out “Harris-Walz” on their online store. The accessories have become a staple in Swiftie culture since the beginning of the Eras Tour, and now, American fans voting blue this year can show their support while adding a new token to their wrists.
“Are you ready for it? 🔥 Harris-Walz friendship bracelets have hit the store!” Team Kamala tweeted just after Swift gave her seal of approval.
At press time, the bracelets are already sold out. Listed at $20 for a pack of two, the accessories will help raise money for the Harris Victory Fund.
The new merchandise comes amid celebrations across the Democratic party over finally securing Swift’s public approval, with the “Karma” singer’s endorsement having arguably been the most highly anticipated of any celebrity. Swift ended up waiting to speak out until moments after Harris finished debating Republican opponent Donald Trump on ABC News, sharing an outtake from her 2023 TIME Person of the Year photoshoot — featuring her cat Benjamin Button — and writing that she was backing Harris “because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.”
“I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos,” the 14-time Grammy winner continued in her message, racking up 8-million-plus “likes” in the span of 12 hours. “I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.”
Since then, Harris has used Swift’s Lover single “The Man” at a post-debate appearance, and Walz has said that he’s “incredibly grateful” to the star. “I say that as a fellow cat owner,” he added in a post-debate interview with MSNBC. “That was eloquent and that was clear and that’s the type of courage we need in America to stand up.”
Trump also weighed in. “She’s a very liberal person, she seems to always endorse a Democrat and she’ll probably pay a price for it in the marketplace,” the twice-impeached ex-POTUS told Fox & Friends of the musician. “I like Brittany [Mahomes], I think Brittany’s great. Brittany got a lot of news last week she’s a big MAGA fan, that’s the one I like much better than Taylor Swift.”
See the Swift-inspired Harris-Walz friendship bracelets below.
When Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris for president on Tuesday (Sept. 10), the singer said she was spurred to action by her fears about artificial intelligence — namely, an incident last month in which Donald Trump posted AI-generated images that falsely claimed the superstar’s support.
Swift’s endorsement, which landed on Instagram just minutes after the conclusion of the Harris-Trump debate, called the Democratic nominee a “steady-handed, gifted leader” who “fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them.” But before those reasons, she pointed first to last month’s deepfake debacle.
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“It really conjured up my fears around AI, and the dangers of spreading misinformation,” Swift wrote. “It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.”
Her fears are well-founded, as Swift has been one most prominent victims of AI deepfakes. At the start of 2024, a flood of fake, sexually explicit images of Swift were posted to the social media site X (formerly Twitter). Some were viewed millions of times before they were removed.
At the time, Woodrow Hartzog, a professor at Boston University School of Law who studies privacy and technology law, told Billboard that the Swift deepfakes highlighted a “particularly toxic cocktail” that was bubbling up on social media in 2024: “It’s an existing problem, mixed with these new generative AI tools and a broader backslide in industry commitments to trust and safety.”
Then last month, Trump posted several AI-generated images to social media falsely suggesting Swift had endorsed him. Several showed women in t-shirts with the slogan “Swifties for Trump”; another showed Swift herself, dressed up as Uncle Sam alongside the message, “Taylor wants you to vote for Donald Trump.” Trump himself responded to the false endorsement: “I accept!”
At the time, experts told Billboard that Swift likely had grounds to file a lawsuit over Trump’s phony endorsement by citing her right of publicity — the legal power to control how your name, image and likeness are used by others.
But they also predicted — accurately, it turns out — that the star was better off fighting Trump’s fake endorsement with a legitimate endorsement of her own, broadcast across social media to her millions of die-hard fans: “I think Swift probably has more effective political rather than legal recourse here.”
Whether or not Swift’s endorsement has its intended effect, the next president will have a chance to shape federal policy on AI and deepfakes. Numerous bills aimed at regulating the cutting-edge tech are pending before Congress, including one that would create a federal right of publicity that would allow people like Swift to more easily sue over the unauthorized use of their likeness.
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Source: The Washington Post / Getty
Donald Trump went full racist old man in his debate with VP Kamala Harris last night (September 10). One particular moment that will live in infamy is when he tapped into a debunked lie that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Seriously.
It started when Harris successfully baited Cheeto by clowning the dwindling crowd sizes of his rallies. While noting his use of movie characters (“You will see during the course of Trump‘s rallies, he talks about fictional characters like Hannibal Lecter. He will talk about how windmills cause cancer,” she said), she then lit him up with, “What you will also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early,” and that’s when his brain went on the fritz, allegedly.
To this (as the moderators tried to move on), Trump responded that no one attends her rallies (which is a lie) and then when he finally proceeded to “answer” the question that was posed about immigration, things got…weird. The former president invoked an already debunked, egregiously racist hoax that Haitian immigrants are eating pet dogs in Springfield, which was amplified by JD Vance.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs!” yelled Trump. “The people that come in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a shame.”
The moderators let him finish, and then fact-checked him—and it inadvertently was hilarious. Co-moderator David Muir said ABC News contacted the city manager of Springfield, who said there were “no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” To this, Trump interjected that he “seen people on television.”
Oh well, if he saw it on TV…—that was sarcasm. Muir then closed the deal saying, “I’m not taking this from television, I’m taking it from the city manager.”
Is this your Orange King? Check out reactions to Trump’s wild accusations of pet homicide in the gallery.
“And then he said, ‘They’re eating the dogs! They’re eating the pets!’” pic.twitter.com/hwgDSejs1c
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) September 11, 2024
