Currently, pre-1972 audio recordings are not covered under federal copyright law and, therefore, are not subject to receiving royalty payments.
The RESPECT Act would mend this issue and enable all digital performances of songs – regardless of the year they were recorded – to become eligible for royalties. While Sirius and Pandora have both opposed the RESPECT Act,
I wonder what Diana Ross, Robert Plant and Paul McCartney think about receiving compensation they’ve been due for quite some time