Earlier this week, the musicFIRST Coalition filed a formal request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking them to investigate and take action against radio stations over reports that some of them are refusing to air music from artists who support the Performance Royalty. The filing does not name call letters, but it does say that a Delaware station boycotted all artists affiliated with musicFIRST for an entire month.

It looks like that station was WMPH Radio, a Broadcast Learning Center of the Brandywine School District in Delaware. The station posted a message on its website, WMPH.org, saying, "WMPH made an educational boycott for one month simply to make a statement in the music industry. The musicFIRST coalition wants radio stations to pay the artist for playing their music. From mid-June through mid-July 2007, WMPH refused to play songs by any artist affiliated with the musicFIRST coalition."

The posting goes on to point out that, "Radio has always been the best friend of the music industry. Without radio playing new songs released by the record labels, there would be no ‘pop’ music. Since the early days of rock and roll, radio has helped define the culture of America and build the careers of many artists." It also links to a list of artists who belong to musicFIRST.

"During the month of our boycott, few listeners even missed the boycotted artists," reads the posting. "WMPH and other stations across the country continue to unite against the musicFIRST coalition by making verbal and written statements. The boycott was lifted, at least for now, because we wish to restore harmony in the music community. We hope that the artists realize that radio stations are their friends in a mutually beneficial relationship."

Speaking out for the other side of the debate is longtime WXRT/Chicago deejay Lin Brehmer. After the station sent an e-mail to its database under his name asking listeners to lobby Congress in opposition to the Performance Rights Act, Brehmer took to his Facebook page to distance himself from the e-mail.

"If you have received an e-mail from my place of business concerning a political action and it is allegedly from me, rest assured I did not write the e-mail; I never read the e-mail; and I certainly never endorsed the e-mail before it was sent to over 100,000 listeners," Brehmer wrote on his page. "It's just something they do. Send out e-mails and sign my name to them without my knowledge. I will always be on the side of the musicians." Brehmer's message was removed from Facebook on Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Even the Missouri March of Dimes is getting in on the debate, as the organization sent a letter to the entire Missouri congressional delegation about the importance of local radio's donated airtime. The letter notes that Missouri broadcasters donated airtime worth $650,000 last year in public service announcements supporting the March of Dimes. "For March of Dimes, free, over-the-air radio is living up to its ideal of operating in the public interest," reads the letter. "We urge you to keep in mind these contributions when deliberating legislation that may impact the radio industry."