Jump to content
[[Template core/front/custom/_customHeader is throwing an error. This theme may be out of date. Run the support tool in the AdminCP to restore the default theme.]]

RIAA killed the (internet) radio


boat_hacked
 Share

Recommended Posts

Typical short-sighted record industry policy - letting people hear music similar to what they already enjoy for free would probably increase legal music purchases.

 

At least it has in my case.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Typical short-sighted record industry policy - letting people hear music similar to what they already enjoy for free would probably increase legal music purchases.

 

At least it has in my case.

 

 

While it may be true in your case by and large that's difficult to prove overall.

 

Boo Hoo, you guys can't get things for free that people work on to make a living.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An internet radio owner sent me this on myspace...

 

At today's Congressional hearing about the new rates for online radio that would essentially destroy it (as readers of this blog already know), SoundExchange, which was scheduled to receive the new royalty payments on Monday morning (since the enforcement date falls on a Sunday), made a startling statement.

 

The SoundExchange executive promised -- in front of Congress -- that SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out. Whew!

 

I just spoke with Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who expressed relief that Pandora wouldn't have to shut down on Sunday in response to the new rates. He said, "It was getting pretty close. I always had underlying optimism that sanity was going to prevail, but I was beginning to wonder."

 

He said everyone who called their Congress person about this should feel that they had an effect on the process:

 

"This is a direct result of lobbying pressure, so if anyone thinks their call didn't matter, it did. That's why this is happening." The flyer DiMA distributed to Congress today probably helped a bit too, but overall, it appears Congress intervened due to pressure from web radio listeners.

 

Funnily enough, Westergren told me this mere hours after a representative of SoundExchange told me

 

SoundExchange told me three hours ago that the new rates are "etched in stone." That is obviously not the case.

 

Westergren had more to say, lending insight into a process that was largely opaque to non-participants. Apparently, nobody ever thought those minimum fee per channel fees would be taken seriously. As of now, they have been taken off the table completely, saving Pandora, Live365, and other multicasters from their most imminent threat.

 

"No one thought those per station fees were remotely rational. It only makes sense that they're being taken off the table."

 

As for the Copyright Royalty Board? They're entirely cut out of the process, having set the rates and then refused a rehearing. Going forward without the royalties being collected, SoundExchange and webcasters will negotiate a new royalty rate with Congress looking over their shoulder -- "and last but not least, the public looking over Congress's shoulder." Alternatively, Congress now has time to consider the Internet Radio Equality Act, which would set webcaster royalties at 7.5 percent of revenue and allow them to continue operating pretty much as they have been.

 

Either way, this is a big win for webcasters and their listeners.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it may be true in your case by and large that's difficult to prove overall.

 

Boo Hoo, you guys can't get things for free that people work on to make a living.

Furthermore, the artists are not seeing any of the money anyways. The bands actually are for the people, not the record companies. Radio is a giant free audio billboard. My band has found listeners all over the country because of internet radio. Places we couldnt get heard at on our own. Internet Radio is a great thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it may be true in your case by and large that's difficult to prove overall.

 

Boo Hoo, you guys can't get things for free that people work on to make a living.

I think the gist of the Internet Radio Equality Act is to pay the same royalties that terrestrial radio pays... zilch. Why should Internet radio be different from terrestrial radio? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While it may be true in your case by and large that's difficult to prove overall.

 

Boo Hoo, you guys can't get things for free that people work on to make a living.

Commercial radio doesn't serve my needs.

 

The RIAA needs to realize that if there is a massive demand for sites like Pandora, it is probably doing something wrong. Not that that has stopped it before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The recording industry, as we know it today, is in its death throes. And it knows it. That doesn't mean that it is devoid of power, nor does it mean it will go off quietly into the night. Quite the contrary, as one can see, it is using all of its energy and resources in an attempt to prolong the existence of a paradigm in which they were not only necessary, but they also held all of the power.

 

Once upon a time, the recording companies were a value-adding link in the artist-to-consumer chain. They facilitated the recording of the music, they pressed it onto media, and distributed it - all functions that required a lot of capital investment and were beyond the means of artists. Because they controlled this vital link in the value chain, they extracted most of the profits in the value chain. Now, that vital link isn't necessarily so vital, yet the record companies still think that they're entitled to a huge profit for being the middle man. And they're going to use all of their influence to try to preserve that.

 

They've identified "the enemy", which is anything that is technology-related or which is outside of their control. Internet radio represents BOTH of those things, so it is obviously evil incarnate. The industry managed to get a very unfair law passed (one that essentially charged nonprofit/unprofitable internet radio stations MORE than profitable commercial regular radio stations). Choosing to not enforce those new rates is merely a gambit on their part hoping the issue will blow over in the general public's mind or a more friendly Congress will be in place at the end of '08. This is good for those of us who are rooting for the sane side, because time is on our side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The recording industry, as we know it today, is in its death throes. And it knows it. That doesn't mean that it is devoid of power, nor does it mean it will go off quietly into the night. Quite the contrary, as one can see, it is using all of its energy and resources in an attempt to prolong the existence of a paradigm in which they were not only necessary, but they also held all of the power.

 

Once upon a time, the recording companies were a value-adding link in the artist-to-consumer chain. They facilitated the recording of the music, they pressed it onto media, and distributed it - all functions that required a lot of capital investment and were beyond the means of artists. Because they controlled this vital link in the value chain, they extracted most of the profits in the value chain. Now, that vital link isn't necessarily so vital, yet the record companies still think that they're entitled to a huge profit for being the middle man. And they're going to use all of their influence to try to preserve that.

 

They've identified "the enemy", which is anything that is technology-related or which is outside of their control. Internet radio represents BOTH of those things, so it is obviously evil incarnate. The industry managed to get a very unfair law passed (one that essentially charged nonprofit/unprofitable internet radio stations MORE than profitable commercial regular radio stations). Choosing to not enforce those new rates is merely a gambit on their part hoping the issue will blow over in the general public's mind or a more friendly Congress will be in place at the end of '08. This is good for those of us who are rooting for the sane side, because time is on our side.

 

I'm down with all of that, I was just never won over by the Napster Event and the free for all culture that otherwise sane people jumped into simply because it was there. Nor am I swayed by the "sky is falling" opinions when this temporary setback for this massive market adjustment occurs.

Edited by Pope Flick
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information