The fight between the music and radio industries in the US escalated this week, as Congress nears a decision on music royalties for FM and AM radio.

Commercial radio in the US has so far been excluded from paying music royalties. But that could end if a proposal for a new Performance Rights Act is approved.

Radio has launched a massive campaign to stop what industry organization NAB calls a “radio tax”. In the past ten days, 35 000 spots have been aired on member stations, according to CNBC.

The music business has countered with its own campaign. “Big radio is being piggish” says a banner on the campaign website, which portrays radio as a pig. The campaign has also been visible on a Washington DC TV channel and in a fullpage ad in the political daily Roll Call. An inflatable pig will be toured around the country, with a first stop outside NAB’s DC headquarters on Wednesday.

“We just want to make a couple of points. The broadcasters have the free use of airwaves and are making billions of dollars each year without paying artists” Musicfirst spokesperson Marty Machowsky told CNBC.

“It’s no surprise that RIAA is now employing silly frat-boy stunts, given its well-documented practice of suing college kids to rescue a bankrupt business model. RIAA is losing this issue on Capitol Hill and the court of public opinion, and today’s demonstration represents a new low in a campaign of utter desperation” responded NAB’s Dennis Wharton in a press release.

The Performance Rights Act was approved by committees in both the House of Representatives and the Senate last year. But NAB claims that it has the support of a majority in the House as well as of 27 senators.