Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) has welcomed the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs against the passage of a bill that would have overturned the existing cap on fees that radio networks are required to pay artists and rightsholders for playing their music.

"Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) welcomes the recommendation from the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, that the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023 not be passed by the Senate," said Ciaran Davis, Chair of CRA. "This is good news for the 260 radio stations across Australia that CRA represents, as this Bill would have had dire consequences for our industry."

But it's not an outright win for the industry body, with the committee recommending that “the federal government conducts a cost-benefit analysis examining the impacts of removing the current caps on licence fees for the broadcast of sound recordings on radio”.

The bill was introduced by Senator David Pocock with the support of the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), along with record companies Mushroom Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group. On behalf of the music industries, the PPCA and its members have argued that the current 1% cap of commercial radio revenue on recording royalties, or 0.005c per head of population for ABC Radio, was unfair for artists and rightsholders.

CRA believes that the focus should now shift to the distribution of funds within the industry. The organisation has expressed concern that multinational record giants are profiting at the expense of Australian artists and industries. "If there is to be further analysis, the focus needs to be on where the money is going, as we remain concerned that multinational record giants are profiting at the expense of Australian artists and industries," Davis said.