Corgan to testify before House Committee

WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan is scheduled to testify this week before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary regarding the Performance Rights Act.

The group musicFIRST (Fairness in Radio Starting Today) said Corgan plans to speak before the committee at a hearing on the act in Washington Tuesday.

MusicFIRST describes itself as a coalition created to ensure that aspiring performers, local musicians and well-known artists are compensated for their music when it is played.

Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America, is also scheduled to testify at Tuesday's hearing.

A musicFIRST news release said Corgan is going before the committee because "AM and FM music radio stations earn billions in advertising revenue without compensating the artists, musicians and rights holders who bring music to life and listeners' ears to the radio dial."