The Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA) has welcomed the recommendation of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs federal government conduct a cost-benefit analysis examining the impacts of removing the current caps on licence fees for the broadcast of sound recordings on radio.

It comes as the Committee's investigation into the Copyright Legislation Amendment (Fair Pay for Radio Play) Bill 2023 comes to an end, with the Committee ultimately recommending against the passage of the bill, which would have overturned the existing cap on fees that radio networks are required to pay artists and rightsholders for playing their music.

The PPCA has recently released a report by Mandala looking at the economic impacts of removing the caps, which suggests that removing the caps could lead to a 78% increase in radio royalties for Australian artists and more revenue for record labels to invest in developing local artists. The report also suggests that commercial radio has the capacity to pay Australian artists and labels fairly, given they have some of the highest revenue per capita globally and profitability higher than the industry average even after the removal of the caps.

PPCA CEO, Annabelle Herd, expressed both relief and frustration at the report's findings. "We are pleased that the Committee has recognised that this is a real issue for Australian artists and labels that warrants further consideration, but the recommendation to require yet another review is frustrating. How many reviews will it take to remove these deeply unfair provisions and put Australian artists on a level playing field with all other copyright holders and with profitable commercial radio networks that rely on music to bring in revenue of over $1 billion annually? All six reviews completed to date have found that the caps should be removed so PPCA can negotiate in a fair and free market."

Herd also thanked Senator David Pocock for his support of Australian music and his role in bringing the issue before Parliament. "Most importantly, we sincerely thank Senator David Pocock for championing Australian music and bringing this issue before the Parliament. With Australian artists doing it tough at the moment, it’s never been more important to get the policy settings right for our homegrown talent, and Senator Pocock quite rightly saw this as a cost-neutral way to get artists paid fairly. We also want to thank Senator Hanson-Young and the Greens for being great supporters of Australian music and for supporting this Bill."

On the other side of the fence, Commercial Radio and Audio, the industry body representing Australia's commercial radio networks, welcomed the recommendation against passing the bill, but will continue to push for any further analysis to investigate the profits of multinational record labels - which it argues is at the expense of Australian artists and industries.

"We remain concerned that multinational record giants are profiting at the expense of Australian artists and industries," said Ciaran Davis, Chair of CRA.