Dear KPNT, KSHE, KIHT and KFTK Listeners:
If you are here I know that you care very much about the radio station that you listen to. Thank you. Here is the situation with the Performance Tax. 80 years ago the Federal Government made a deal with the business community. The Government would allow businesses to use the over-the-air spectrum in return for providing quality entertainment, emergency information, national defense information, weather information, local news, community support for local charities as well as community access. All of this was to be provided free of charge to the public.
Because of this public/ private partnership free over-air-radio grew to where at least 92% of the American public uses radio each week.
To pay the bills radio sells advertising. Therefore radio costs the public nothing & radio receives absolutely NO government subsidy.
Radio has always provided free on-air access to artists & musicians. Radio plays the music, the artist receives free radio exposure. As a result the artists (bands) get famous & sell lots of albums, CDs & downloads. It's a symbiotic relationship that works.
Record companies know that it works. They employ legions of representatives to call on radio program directors to beg them to play their music. One of our program directors tells me that he spends at least 10 hours per week talking to record company reps. When the records sell the record companies send us gold & platinum records with thank you messages. You've probably seen them in radio stations that you have visited.
The record industry is in trouble. They want a bailout. So they have chosen to go after the one partner who has helped them sell records for years; RADIO. They have gone to Congress and asked them to pass a new tax that would allow the record companies to tax your radio station for playing the music for free.
If this tax passes it will take money out of St. Louis and send it to the mostly foreign record companies headquartered in France, the UK & Japan. It's not right and it will cost St. Louis radio jobs and severely limit the amount of community service that radio can provide.
All of our local congressmen & women have signed a resolution called "The Local Radio Freedom Act" which supports local radio so please thank them:
Missouri
Congressmen Lacy Clay 202-225-2406
Congresswomen Jo Ann Emerson 202-225-4404
Congressman Russ Carnahan 202-225-2671
Congressman Blaine Luektemeyer 202-225-2956
Congressman Todd Aiken 202-225-2561
Illinois:
Congressman Jerry Costello 202-225-5661
Congressman John Shimkus 202-225-5271
Our Senators have NOT signed on to support radio so we encourage you to call them and let them know that you want them to vote "NO" on Senate Bill #379, The Performer's Right's Act, and vote "YES" on the Local Radio Freedom Act aka Senate Congressional Resolution #14.
Here is the contact information for your senators:
Missouri:
Senator Claire McCaskill 202-224-6154
Senator Christopher Bond 202-224-5721
Illinois:
Senator Richard Durbin 202-224-2152
Senator Roland Burris 202-224-2854
Thank you very much for caring so much about your local radio stations.