[BC] Re: [BC The END of Internet Radio?

[Cornelius Gould]

Rich...

A majority of the small guys *ARE* paying for the fees.  What is changing is
the method of payment...from a percentage of revenue (if no revenue, then a
PERCENTAGE of the EXPENSES OF OPERATION).

The small guys (including my stream) ARE paying...believe me.  it just irks
us when folks like you spew inaccurate facts!

-Cornelius

On 3/9/07, Rich Wood <richwood at pobox.com> wrote:
>
> At 09:54 PM 3/8/2007, you wrote:
>
> >Yes, as long as internet radio is another portal for terrestrial radio
> >only.  To hell with the little guy, he's out of the picture now that he
> >can't afford it.  Do you think these new rates hurt the big guys?
>
> Absolutely. My former company stopped all music streaming because of
> the fees. An Internet-only "station" we had stopped streaming. The
> bigger you are, the higher the total fee. Generally, streams make no
> money. They do extend the brand. A radio station has a far better
> promotional vehicle to drive people to the net than "the little guy."
> They pay by the song times the streams. The little guy is often doing
> it as a hobby using other people's product for which he pays nothing
> - until now.
>
> I've been involved with radio streaming since it began. I've watched
> companies go belly up because bandwidth cost too much at the time.
> The classic "big guy" death was broadcast.com after Yahoo bought it.
> It didn't make money. Probably the last straw was the additional
> music fees that made an unprofitable operation a serious drain on the
> company. I spoke with Mark Cuban about what he thought the fees might
> be. He was frustrated because no one could tell him how much the fees
> would be. In addition, they were to be retroactive. These were the
> Hillary Rosen days.
>
> The seminar I mentioned earlier at the Radio & Records Talk Radio
> Seminar in Los Angeles had a panel of about 10 folks in
> decision-making positions, as well as research companies. Not a
> single person argued against the fact that the Internet was critical
> to the broadening of the station's brand. It includes streaming,
> podcasting, text messaging and anything we might dream up later.
>
> I believe the RIAA is going to see it's shooting itself in the foot
> and will come up with a more realistic fee schedule. I do know fees
> are not going to go away. The "little guy" who does it because the
> world needs his personal music mix is going to see his allowance dry
> up. Whether we like it or not music is someone else's property. You
> use it, you pay. Simple.
>
> Rich
>
>
>
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- Cornelius Gould
________________________________
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of
thinking we were at when we created them."
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)