Do traditional so-called terrestrial radio stations (AM/FM) have to pay the
same royalties for over-the-air broadcasting?
Not at this time. With every sound recording, there are two copyrights -- one for
the musical composition (the notes and lyrics) and one for the sound recording
(the performance of the song by performers). When radio stations broadcast
over-the-air, they do not pay royalties to record companies and performers; they
only pay a royalty to the person or company who hold the copyright to the
composition (i.e., the songwriter or the music publisher). So if an FM station
plays Christina Aguileras Beautiful or Diana Ross Aint No Moutain High
Enough, neither of these artists gets a dime in royalties because neither wrote
her respective song; only the songwriters would get paid. If either of these tracks
is played on satellite radio or on an internet webcast, however, both Ross and
Aguilera (as performers) would be compensated along with the songwriters.