The bills I have seen pertain only to "terrestrial" radio. 

HR:848

S.379

First off, my apologies if this has already been covered here. I did some quick searches and couldn't find an existing thread.

I'm wondering if the the so-called "Performance Rights Tax", part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (congressional H.R. 1) will apply to digital-streaming Internet radio stations, like Radio Paradise? It would charge a "performance fee/tax" for each play of a track, ostensibly to be paid to the musicians who contributed to the track.This is in addition to the existing copyright fees paid to BMI and ASCAP. The tradition broadcast radio stations seem to be fighting this tooth and nail, saying it will drive the small independent, the niche, and the minority radios stations out of business. 

I seem to remember that early last year there was a lot of wrangling over renegotiating rates for "digital" broadcasts, vs. "traditional" broadcasts, with "digital' broadcasters taking a big hit. Was that just higher Copyright fees, or were the "digital" stations the first to pay "Performance" fees? Is this new bill just bringing standard broadcast radio fees into line with what digital streaming radios has had to deal with for the past year ?

Finally, I'd like to hear from someone with more experience in the music business side whether they think any significant monies collected from a "performance tax" would actually end up trickling down through all the various big entities (RIAA, SoundExchange) to actually make it into the hands of artists? Or will the artists likely get screwed — as usual, — by the big Corporate Music Machine ?Thanks in advance,
    John