Artist, advocate Terrany Johnson aka Tee Double is fighting the good fight

Multitalented Hip Hop artist Terrany Johnson (aka Tee Double) speaks out on radio royalties., the American Music Fairness Act and a life dedicated to empowering musicians.

A guest post by Chris Castle from MusicTechPolicy.

[Tee Double is speaking on the free “Radio Royalties and the American Music Fairness Act” live stream panel hosted by Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts, Austin Texas Musicians, SoundExchange, I Respect Music Austin, Austin Music Foundation and Artist Rights Watch on December 8 at noon CST.  Register on Eventbrite. If you’d like to support the American Music Fairness Act, you can sign the petition to Congress here.]

1. Tell us a little about your history as an artist and your work in the Texas music community.
Well, I’ve been recording and releasing music since i was 9 years old in Austin, Texas around the same time I sent my first demo I self-produced and performed on to Warner bros. Records. I have been on various boards such as the Texas Chapter of The Grammys, Austin Music foundation, Black Fret a nonprofit which give artist grants yearly to further sustain their craft. I currently am the founder of the urban Artist Alliance which is a leader in education in the music business for underserved creatives who never have access to the tools to succeed in an ever-changing industry. Which recently won the Austin Business Chamber A-List award for Best Bootstrap Company FOR 2021.

2. Can you explain a bit about radio royalties as an artist and then as a songwriter? Sure. Royalties are one of the many ways artists can continue to benefit off their art in new platforms. As an artist, radio royalties are not paid to us even though we are the driving force behind why the song is a hit or synced for commercials and so on. We are as much a contributing factor as the song itself. As a songwriter which I am both an artist and a songwriter of my catalog, I receive those monies which depending on the frequency of the song can generate a nice bit of change. As an indie you don’t go rich but you have some sort of return on your time and effort of creating the song for which someone else ( in my case me) would perform.

3. When SoundExchange opened up a whole new income stream for webcasting and satellite radio, did that have an effect on your revenue as an artist? Any new platform is a good thing if it also includes some positive financial upside for the creatives. But artist must not just limit their potential revenue streams to radio as there are many channels to funnel your art through to add on top of that money. Education is key and adding a unified front to approach unfair practices or outdated laws that truly damage the livelihood of creatives is a step many should be taking moving forward.

4. How will the American Music Fairness Act help working artists, especially those who Blake Morgan calls “middle class artists”? TheAmerican Music Fairness Act will not just help “middle class artists” but also new artists first releasing music to be able to see the economic benefits of that art when it is played on radio now and future technology that will introduce new ways of sharing music. By keeping smaller stations unscathed and making sure larger ones are held accountable to the artist that sustain their ability to remain economically feasible by ads and so forth it is only a good thing.

5. When I speak to artists about copyright policy issues, they often seem overwhelmed by the process and tend to leave it to others. What advice do you have for artists to take direction action to get involved in copyright policy making? My advice would be to join organizations that have your interest at heart. Grammys on the hill is a great one as it also has artist going to their local reps to push their cause. Following blogs and publications that speak to YOU and build up a mental database of ever-changing ideas within the music industry. As I tell artists I mentor, if it makes you one more cent you should be aware of it because music is not a rich person’s game but a long-term journey. Stay the course and stay inspired.