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As I was thinking about this I recalled that commercial radio pays for the music they play...
Not only that, but I think non-commercial public radio stations also make some sort of payments.
There has also been "pay to play" methodology used, in which someone pays the radio station to play a song. This is legal, as long as the station is up front with the information that it is being done. In effect, the song is presented as a paid advertisement.
Personally, I'm inclined to think that stations should not have to pay royalities on music they play. They are actually doing the producer of the song a service, by giving the song advertisement. The producer of the music wants airplay, not (so much) to earn airplay royalties, but to give the music exposure to sell recordings.
All in all, radio (at least in the U.S.) is badly screwed up. Clear Channel is the most prominent example. A radio station should be licienced because they provide a quality service, not because some mega-corporation has the money to buy up the licences. A commercial radio licence should not be worth millions of dollars, for sale to the wealthy.
Moose