For a lot of us the radio is a just a joke now, an afterthought. Something you use when you get into a car and you forgot your iPod or Zune or whatever other mechanism you use to play the soundtrack of your life. For others however, radio is still a big business. They see it as a way to make money, a way to make a living. Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) is one of those people.

Yesterday, before the House in D.C. he argued that songwriters should not be the only people paid when a song is played on the radio. He wants the band or the artist performing the song to be paid as well.

Since the 50’s the only people the radio stations had to compensate when they played music on their stations were the songwriters. The band or the artist who performed the song are never paid, unless they are the song’s writers as well. As an example, The Beatles song “Help!”, was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Though Ringo and George played on the recording they are not credited as songwriters and are never compensated when the song plays on the radio.

This particular way of payment has its roots in those days when radio actually reached a wider more willing audience and also a time when radio was the easiest way to hear new music.  People would find out about bands like The Beatles, The Stones, Hendrix, and many many others primarily by radio. In essence the radio stations were doing the bands a favor by playing their music. A compromise made was to only pay the songwriters. It’s an old tradition.

But even as I write this, the question isn’t whether these artists/bands deserve their money, the question is: who cares? Most people get their music from the internet now. Tons of internet only radio stations have been popping up. Satellite radio has its own deals with bands and songwriters. Music blogs keep us abreast of what is and isn’t the music you should be listening to.

If you listen to the radio today how many new and upcoming bands do you really hear? Not many. The bands and artists that are making the most noise about this payment scheme are mainly the established acts. Just more of the same.

SMASHING PUMPKINS – ZERO (LIVE)

Anyhow over at Variety.com you can read an article on yesterday’s hearings.