DiCosimo: Congress should pass the American Music Fairness Act

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Local Union America's Work Force Union Podcast American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Government Affairs and Policy

AFM Local 4

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Leonard DiCosimo

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American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 4 President Leonard DiCosimo joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed the need to pass the American Music Fairness Act, which would ensure performers are compensated when their songs are played on terrestrial radio.

The U.S., North Korea and Iran are the only countries in the world who do not pay musicians royalties when their songs are played on the radio, DiCosimo said.

The legislation was introduced in the U.S. House a year ago and was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. For decades, the AFM has lobbied for the measure, he said. DiCosimo noted the cost to radio stations would be minimal – about $500 annually.

He also spoke about the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act, which, if passed, would provide tax relief to working artists by updating the Qualified Performing Artist (QPA) tax deduction. This would allow certain performing artists to deduct the cost of expenses incurred in the course of their employment.

Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

DiCosimo: Congress should pass the American Music Fairness Act

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