Lyle Lovett became the latest artist to head to D.C. and testify in favor of being paid for radio airplay, even using an axis-of-evil argument. (No, he was not referring to Clear Channel.) 
“When radio plays recorded works, they generate profit for themselves because they attract listeners and advertising dollars. Yet radio has never compensated performers for the value their creative work brings to the radio industry, because the Copyright Act does not protect sound recordings in the same way it protects the underlying songs,” Lovett told the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. “Let’s face it. No one tunes into a radio station to hear the commercials.”
The musicFIRST Coalition was also represented by singer songwriter Alice Peacock.
Lovett also addressed the international angle, suggesting that not paying a performer for airplay, is un-American. 
“Foreign radio stations often broadcast a high percentage of American music, but we don’t get our share of the royalties due to our lack of a right in the U.S. This is amazing. We’re responsible for 30 to 50 percent of music played on stations around the world, and we don’t have a performance right? I can understand why China, North Korea, and Iran might not. But the United States?”
Currently, foreign broadcasters withhold royalty payments to protest the fact that U.S. radio stations do not honor a performance right for foreign artists.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing “Exploring the Scope of Public Performance Rights” was the second congressional hearing about the issue of a performance rights on radio.

Lyle Lovett will receive the Americana Music Association's inaugural Trailblazer Award and perform at the org's 2007 Honors and Awards show on Nov. 1 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will also sponsor a keynote interview with Lovett on Nov. 2, during the Americana org's annual conference.
Trailblazer Award was established to recognize musical pioneers who have created timeless musical capsules of individualistic style and purpose. Warren Zanes, education adviser to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, will moderate the discussion with Lovett.
The eighth annual Americana Festival and Conference runs Oct.31 through Nov.3. Artists scheduled to perform include Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Todd Snider and others. The AMA President's award will be given to the late Townes Van Zandt, who coincidentally was a major influence in Lovett.