Rep. Berman to host fundraiser at Grammys

In December, The Recording Academy’s Vice President of Government Relations Daryl Friedman, the recording industry’s top lobbyist, called
Berman a champion of performance rights and cheered his reelection in a
blog post published on Grammy.com.

According to OpenSecrets, the entertainment industry was Berman’s largest financial supporter during the last election cycle, contributing almost $300,000 to his campaign committee and ChutzPAC. Sunlight data shows the recording industry was responsible for at least $55,000 of that total.

Berman touts his co-sponsoring of the Performance Rights Act in 2009 with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) on his official website, describing it as a bill “to ensure musicians’ fair compensation for radio broadcasts of their work.”

His office did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

— This post was updated at 5:05 p.m. on Jan. 27. to clarify Rep. Berman is hosting the fundraiser.