Lovett says to pay the sidemen

Musicians who add the guitar riff or bass groove to “bring a song to life” should be paid when their work is played on the radio, four-time Grammy winner Lyle Lovett told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Lovett urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to consider legislation requiring commercial radio to pay royalties to performers when they play their songs. Songwriters already receive such payments. “This issue is not about me. It’s about the thousands of performers across the country who work so hard to earn livings that are so modest in relation to their talent,” Lovett said.

“Those are people who are usually not credited as writers of a song, but are extremely influential in bringing a song to life and are very much a part of the creative process,” he said.

Lovett appeared on behalf of the musicFIRST Coalition.