Radio companies could pay as much as $500 million a year in royalties to record labels and artists if new legistlation is passed. Artists such as Bono and Tony Bennett spoke out in favor of the bill at a recent Congressional briefing. Radio already pays out millions of dollars to songwriters and publishers.

Radio companies argue that they are already promoting and marketing artists for the labels by playing their music. Others say music promotes radio these days since people learn about music from so many different sources.

Shouldn’t radio pay performance royalties? Absolutely. Songwriters get paid and the one singing the song should get paid.

Hip hop group Chiddy Bang will be showcasing tonight at Highline Ballroom in New York – Opening for The Roots. Check out the song Kids (Featuring MGMT). For more information contact max@roadrunnerrecords.com.

Check out the tracks The Last Chance You’ll Ever Get and I’ll Fight Anybody by ClockTower Showdown. The band is rooted in Marion, Illinois and will be on tour From May through August.

Check out the infectious rock track My Temperature’s Rising from
The Audition. The Audition are a pop/rock band from Chicago, Illinois who just released their self titled record on April 28th via Victory Records. The record was produced by Mark Trombino, who has previously worked with Jimmy Eat World, Senses Fail, Blink-182 and Finch, amongst others. The band have replaced Kill Hannah on the Madina Lake 2009 British tour. For more information contact Ben@stolentransmission.com

Nielsen noted that 60 percent of those starting a Twitter account fail to return after just one month of usage.