Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker introduced legislation seeking to improve royalties for songwriters.

The senators made the announcement Monday along with U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah at the historic Bluebird Café in Green Hills. Some local songwriters were also on hand.

The bill would direct the Copyright Royalty Board to consider fair market value of songs based on music downloads and CD purchases, and would eliminate a provision that limits the scope of evidence that the rate court can consider in setting compensation levels.

Alexander noted the compensation rate has been raised by only 7 cents over the last 100 years, to 9.1 cents per song.
The senators said they expect pushback on the bill from radio and Internet broadcasters, who don’t want to have to pay extra to play music on the air.

A similar version of the bill has already been introduced in the House, and has picked up 15 sponsors.