Internet radio being driven out of business by RIAA and Copyright Office

[meldroc]

Take a look here...

http://www.radioparadise.com/

The US Copyright Office has released their new set of rates for the payment of royalties by Internet Radio, and they ignored all of the facts presented by webcasters (including RP) and gave the record industry exactly what they asked for: royalty rates so high that they will put RP and every other independent webcaster out of business. See Kurt Hanson's newsletter for 3/2/07 for the details on how the rates work and what they will mean to stations like RP. You can participate in the discussion about this issue in our Listener Forum.

For some time, we've suffered with a system where we pay a large chunk (10%-12%) of our income to the Big 5 record companies - while FM stations and radio conglomerates like Clear Channel pay nothing. Now they want even more. In our case, an amount equal to 125% of our income. Our only hope is to create as much public awareness and outrage about this staggeringly unfair situation as possible. Neither the record industry nor Congress are ready to listen to us at this point. But members of the media may well be, and we need to get their attention.

If you have a blog, write about it. Feel free to quote anything I've written in the Listener Forum. If you find a good blog post about the subject, Digg it or Slashdot it. If you work for a media outlet, look over the facts of the situation and see if you don't feel the same sense of outrage that we do. Write a letter to the editor of your favorite magazine or newspaper. Let everyone you can know what a loss it would be to you personally if your favorite Internet radio stations, including RP, were no longer available.

The RIAA can, at any time, agree to strike a deal with independent webcasters to allow us to pay a more realistic royalty, one based on a percentage of our income. We're hoping that if all of you make enough noise they'll be more inclined to do so. We'd also like to hope that at least one member of Congress will take a look at this situation and become willing to propose ammendments to the deeply flawed 1990s pieces of legislation that are responsible for the unfair treatment of Internet radio.

Thanks a lot for reading this, and for considering the idea of taking some action on it. We'll be posting new information and links here as they become available.

Yet another example of our corrupt government jamming its red, white and blue dick up the ass of the American people. I'm raging, fuming fucking mad. The Internet radio stations spelled it out plainly to the Copyright Office, told them they're willing to pay a reasonable royalty, but they only have so much money, and the RIAA bribed them into setting the rates to 125% of their revenue! In other words, Internet radio is completely and utterly fucked, so the RIAA can give away the same music to Clear Channel and have a legal monopoly on what we get to listen to.

Where's the Unabomber when we need him?

[Initech]

1. Argh, I fucking hate that piece of shit company.

I wish there was a way we could just bankrupt those greedy sons of bitches. Honestly, I have nothing good to say about the RIAA. I have nothing good to say about a company who will arrest its customers if they do not pay up. The DMCA sucks and I still say it's the single worst piece of legislation we've ever passed.

[Ignacio Upton]

4. Well...if a boycott ever suceeded

They would continue blaming their falling sales on downloading.

[Irreverend IX]

7. Show your dissatisfaction...

By downloading the entire discography from a band under the RIAA umbrella! And share it with all your friends.

[Initech]

9. Nope. Found an even better loophole - buy used.

See if you buy used CDs, the RIAA doesn't get a dime from those sales!

[WinkyDink]

11. Nor does the performer.

[Initech]

12. Oh. Good point.

Another option is to buy music from concerts - sure, it may be a little more expensive, but the RIAA nor the record stores will see a dime from those sales either.

[madrchsod]

2. their business model is failing so...

arrest the users and tax the providers out of business. over charge for crappy music and bad decisions-20 million buy out of mariah carey- radio stations that play the same shit to 10-16 year olds and really bad oldies crap to the rest of the market.
i do`t buy cd`s or records unless they are on ebay or local used music stores and i listen to npr for my music..

[Ignacio Upton]

3. Well, there's the FAIR USE Act

Which Rick Boucher (and John Doolittle of all people) have recently introduced. While it doesn't go as far as it should, it will erode the DMCA somewhat:

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8817.cfm

..Also, if the RIAA wants to stay in business, instead of suing little girls and dead people, they should endorse a blanket licensing system, where people pay a monthly fee to their ISP for the right to file share.

http://www.eff.org/share/collective_lic_wp.php

[msongs]

5. internet 'radio' = crybabies and whiners as usual --->

they want to use somebody else's music. well that somebody else has a right to charge what they want even if you don't like it.

the solution for internet radio sorry talentless crybaby whiners is to MAKE THEIR OWN MUSIC and then they won't have to pay ANYTHING
to ANYBODY!

then the crybaby whiners would have to stop playing pathetic loser victim and be responsible for themselves.





Msongs
www.msongs.com

[Billy Burnett]

6. Exactly. If users don't like it, don't pay.

If "free" music is so important to some, then they should just go ahead and learn how to make their own. Then they can trade their music with friends who make music also. It's so easy that anyone can do it. ;)

[meldroc]

8. You missed the part where the Copyright office was charging 125% of revenue...

I don't have a problem with reasonable royalties. These aren't reasonable royalties - these are clearly set to force internet radio out of business.

Before you shoot off your fucking mouth, read the fucking article, so you don't make yourself look like a fucking ass.

[NashVegas]

10. Oh Boy. This Is the Most Ignorant Thing I've Ever Seen on This Subject

Radio stations (both broadcast and internet) pay royalties. Broadcast stations traditionally pay their fees through BMI, mostly. These fees are determined by a formula that includes market size and signal strength, and they are a fee for songwriters.

When CARP came into play, fees for internet radio were increased to also include mechanicals and performance. So already there's an increase. If you are solely an internet broadcaster, you are paying more fees than a terrestrial radio station.

Now here're the fun parts:

1. The internet royalty fees are collected by Sound Exchange, which was set up by the RIAA.
2. If someone who runs a website downloads a music video and streams it on their server, they owe royalties. But if the person running the site instead embeds on one of their pages, the same video - streamed from the record label's site, no fee.

This isn't just about the money, this is about control of distribution. Labels set up their promotions budgets to determine what records they are going to get behind and try to make a hit. Terrestrial radio stations, even ones that have a diverse playlist, are regularly asked to hold off on playing certain records, so that the label can coordinate the timing for maximum exposure.

And this, my friend, is why radio sucks. Because most programmers are all too happy to let the labels lead.

It's not just CDs and mp3s - it's our culture - and record labels attempts to control culture from the top down is why music sales continue to spiral downward.

[otohara]

13. Radio Paradise Absolute Best Internet Station

on the web....

[Morgana LaFey]

14. All hail the FREE Market System

Free = freedom for corporations to rape and pillage and get away with it.