You do realize that introducing a draft bill into committee is a long way from enacting a law? With luck, this may eventually come to pass, but do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

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I know you worked hard on this  so please know the congrats was sincere

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SongCraft
From Michael Huppe:
“For decades, music services have gotten away with building their business on the backs of hardworking musicians, paying unfair rates -- and in the case of the $17.5-billion radio industry, paying nothing at all -- for the music they use,” said Michael Huppe, president and CEO of SoundExchange, an independent nonprofit performance rights organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties.

The highlighted line above is the one I need to question... I am in Canada, but I am 99.9% certain US radio does pay ASCAP and BMI for the music they play. Sure - that money goes to writers and publishers (not artists and musicians) but to say they don't pay anything just doesn't seem like a fair statement.
 
Don't get me wrong... if I lived in the US I would sign the petition - it's a good thing for artists and musicians. I'm just questioning some of the comments such as the one above...

SongCraft
Hi Codamedia.
Good questions. 
Yes, Performers will be paid. Further explanation....
Since confirming without doubt that writers/performers incomes have dropped dramatically -- There will indeed be a number of changes.  Reports from various sources say....

 
Sure they will get paid ... Paul Mc gets his 13 million, the Michael Jackson estate gets their 10 million, the Bruce Springsteen group gets his 10 million ... and you will get a check for a dollar and 20 cents! (Example below!) AND this is why, they are considered "stars" and you are compared to them! You are nothing! You do not have a chance! Specially when you are just starting out! Of course, if you have to wait a year, have a wife and a kid, hoping to get a check and it shows up as a buck 20 ... go ahead ... but by that time, you will probably lose everything you have and quit music ... you can live better washing dishes at Mcdonalds!
 
All stations, TV or Radio pay BMI and ASCAP ... and them saying that some more money would be spent giving away the extra nickels is the greatest joke EVER!
 
These folks are not there for you and your commission. They were created so that the radio/tv stations they owned could make more money ... and it has been like that forever, and even in the 1950's when the 'revolution" in music started hoping to get their own nickels and they were subjugated, and it almost killed a lot of black music in America, and our luck was that folks like Harry Belafonte, Miles Davis, and others managed to stick it out and "make it" ... but they did not get paid for the longest time, because they were not a part of the major conglomerates of distribution and syndication!
 
I only find this insulting and deceptive, and your local AM and FM stations are going to have their fees raised 10% to 12% as an excuse to pay you folks (that deserve it, no doubt!), but will find that these stations will, in the end, refuse to play anything that does not bring them their nickels. This is why TV is so repetitive, so they do not have to share a nickel with anyone else, and just keep it inhouse. This is why Comcast, has 15 other channels, as do other major cable, and dish services ... because bringing an outsider, will hurt them!
 
All in all, this is a major plea for record companies (conglomerates) to stay "alive" and find a way to get a bit more money, and pray on your and mine inability to read the fine print to know what is really going on! ... it's called the vicious corporatization of America ... and the killing of the arts, in favor of the top ten and what is "acceptable" by these companies, and your work is not important or valuable.
 
If all you want to do is just be another slave ... go ahead ... play the same music, with the same instruments with the same effects, with the same DAW, with the same ... anything ... and then expect to get attention! You are one of the millions that want/need a nickel, and you ain't gonna do it via those folks!
 
You have to do it yourself, independently ... because they want your profits!
 
Sorry ... but this is more jargon and BS about nothing and a corporate entity fooling you! Why would anyone give you any money is how many of these rich companies look at it. Your check will get smaller each year until one day, it is just 5 cents! And you heard your song 12 times last week in 2 stations! 

SongCraft
 
Hi Moshkito
 
Your comment is irrational, completely out of context
 

No, and indeed, way....

I have been asked to keep an eye on this thread so please all, lets keep it civil. 

My understanding (as a songwriter) royalties are only paid if the station is in the BMI/ASCAP/SESAC monitoring system.

The songwriter (to my knowledge) gets no royalties if the song is played on a non-monitored station.

So, my question: if this passes legislation and artists do get paid (which I support, of course) am I not right to assume that royalties will be awarded by the same BMI/ASCAP/SESAC monitoring system?

If that's the case, I don't see this as a historic victory for anyone but the big boys.

SongCraft

But wait, there's even more good news: In addition to radio, Streaming sites such as Spotify and Pandora will have to abide by the Fair Play, Fair Pay Act.  They must either adapt or fade away, one obvious way is to not offer 'Free' because that be suicide, another is to profit via advertising and services.
 

 
What does that mean? That Spotify will be forced to pay a higher rate per stream? I don't think it's even clear that what they're paying now is too low. Of course artists complain about how much they're making from streams, but Spotify and Pandora represent a tiny fraction of the overall music consuming market worldwide. Let's say for the sake of argument it's 5% (I know it's a small amount). Just how much does anyone expect to make from one song per listen from 5% of the market? The trouble is that people are comparing these payments to what artists made from CD's in the past, but this is a completely different business model - it's apples and oranges. Whereas a CD sale represented an immediate royalty payment for an artist, streaming spreads that payment out over whatever length of time the listener remains interested in a song. I have CD's that I've listened to hundreds of times over the years because they're so good. If those plays had been through Spotify instead of CD, are you confident that the streaming payments for all of those listens would have been less than the royalty payment for the CD? 
 
I'm sorry to get political but this stinks of heavy handed government interference and it's not going to end well. "They must either adapt or fade away" has a very sinister tone which brings the phrase "comply or die" to mind. Forcing companies to change their prices by government mandate sets a very dangerous precedent indeed. What you have is politicians, most of whom have never run a business in their lives, dictating other people's business decisions. I hate that. Boo!