[BC] The END of Internet Radio?

[Dana Puopolo]

Mark, the RIAA is mainly composed of representatives from the 'big five' (soon
to be four if they get their way) record companies, acting as a cartel.
They DON'T CARE about fringe artists. They want you to buy the latest Britney
Spears (or other of her ilk) CD.
They want to CONTROL whet you hear. They want to CONTROL what music you buy!

This is all about CONTROL. Nothing else.

-D

------ Original Message ------
Received: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:59:33 AM EST
From: "Mark Humphrey" <mark3xy at gmail.com>
To: "Broadcasters' Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Subject: Re: [BC] The END of Internet Radio?

I've been reading some of the statements of testimony given by the
RIAA and record company executives to the Copyright Royalty Board.
They claim Internet and satellite radio are fundamentally different
from terrestrial radio, in that their typically wider playlists don't
encourage listeners to buy records.  Instead, according to the RIAA
members, these services act as a "replacement" for the use of home or
car CD players.

This argument is unfounded.  One of my favorite Internet stations is
Radio Paradise, which has introduced me to some very talented artists
rarely heard on commercial radio.  As a result, I have purchased more
CDs in this past year than ever before.

Although artists are entitled to some form of compensation, I believe
the royalty system needs to be based on a reasonable percentage of the
webcaster's revenue, rather than a flat rate.  Otherwise,
entrepreneurs face a major stumbling block.

The proposed minimum "administrative" fee of $500 for non-commercial
webcasters is likely to be a problem for small college and high school
radio stations.  Some may argue that educational stations only
"pretend" to be radio, but they're also a important training ground
for the commercial broadcast industry -- and many of us are living
proof.

A related question: if only US-based Internet radio services are
affected by this ruling, will we still be able to hear foreign
broadcast streams that include licensed music, or will "Big Brother"
decide those must be blocked?

I expressed my opinion to my US Rep and Senators on Monday, but
haven't yet received a response from any of them.

The full 115 page text of the CRB decision is now on line. You'll see
that the RIAA's "SoundExchange" got pretty much everything they
demanded:

http://www.loc.gov/crb/proceedings/2005-1/rates-terms2005-1.pdf

Mark


On 3/7/07, WFIFeng at aol.com <WFIFeng at aol.com> wrote:
> With the incredible rate increases being inflicted upon WEBcasters by the
Music Mafiaa, the future doesn't look too bright.
>
> Here is an interesting Buisinessweek article:
>
> http://tinyurl.com/3xdhf8
>
> What think ye?
>
> Willie...
>
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