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Net Radio Appeal On Royalties Rejected
Station writes "The Copyright Royalty Board has rejected a request to reconsider its March decision to impose an onerous royalty schedule on Internet radio broadcasters. '"None of the moving parties have [sic] made a sufficient showing of new evidence or clear error or manifest injustice that would warrant rehearing," wrote the CRB in its decision.' The recording industry and its royalty collection organization SoundExchange are jubilant over the ruling. '"Our artists and labels look forward to working with the Internet radio industry — large and small, commercial and noncommercial — so that together we can ensure it succeeds as a place where great music is available to music lovers of all genres," said SoundExchange head Simson in a statement. Noble words, but after today's ruling — which will take effect on May 15 unless the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agrees to hear an appeal — there probably won't be much of an Internet radio industry left for SoundExchange to work with.'"
And Internet radio was the only radio left that didn't suck.
The whole point of this ruling *IS* to kill internet radio which poses the greatest threat to the vertically-integrated, homogeneous pop music environment that is the lifeblood of the RIAA. Without alternative venues for independent artists, the major label combine gets to pick the winners in the market. (Nevermind the detriment to the market itself - this is about controlling the whole pie, not the size of the pie.)
Sometimes I find myself wishing the RIAA got everything they ever wanted, if only to see how their market collapses. Then I realize it's already happening.
-Isaac
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. For Entertainment Purposes Only.
Can't blame em... Unfortunately the internet is now another accepted medium of distribution. Hopefully this opens the door to innovative licensing such as cost per listener, etc.
This
Isn't the whole basis of the royalty because it is a digital duplication, an exact copy, and that is why regular radio stations don't have to pay this royalty? If this is the case why don't HD radio stations have to pay this royalty? It is a digital broadcast is it not?
So, bye, bye, Miss American pie...
The creator of this post (Jacob Smith) hereby releases it, and all of his other posts, into the public domain.
They clearly have no idea how much Pandora has done to sell me their product. I have actually purchased CDs I would never have known existed were it not for internet radio. They're killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
it will be consumed by spam first.
What is to prevent people from just setting up internet radio servers overseas in areas that don't enforce copyright laws?
This will only work against people and companies inside the United States; I predict that internet radio will still thrive, and the rest of the world will drive America's music tastes.
Working with our wholly-owned subsidiaries, who are of course exempt from paying royalties. What wholly-owned subsidiaries, you ask? Why, the very ones that the sustenance of this ruling has made possible.
Don't trust anyone under thirty.
"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."
*Sigh*
I just realized this.
I am a big fan of RadioParadise.com. I have purchased a total of 15 CDs over the past year or so. All 15 (I kid you not) were by artists introduced to me by RP.
In my case: No RP, no CDs. Especially now, you greedy pricks.
I believe the question is "Why does Internet Radio have to pay out the ass when normal radio only has to pay 'reasonable' royalties?" (Reasonable is of course up to interpretation)
There are 10 types of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who do not.
One thing that really surprised me after reading these comments first and then the article, is that stations can't just move to independent music. From TFA:
5. Well... independent music is cool. Why not just play independent music?
This is very important to understand, as lots of people see this as a solution. The statutory webcast license covers ANY copyright music, from the biggest labels, down to the smallest, and even independently-released music. Again, the license covers ANY copyright music. The copyright owner need NOT be part of SoundExchange or the RIAA. The ONLY exceptions to this are (A) direct deals with each and every sound recording copyright owner, (B) copyright owners that are willing to make a blanket "waive" of fees, or (C) non-copyright, public domain music.
I guess that means that this is about more than just the RIAA controlling the industry - its about putting them out of business. Of course, me being an Australian, I understand that they can't really do that because there are many other countries where it costs a bit more to buy yourself a politician.
And just for the record, one of my favorite stations is located in Switzerland anyway.
I've come to the conclusion that there is little I can do to stop the overwhelming tide of corporate interests or otherwise greedy minded individuals who control the world. That is, until even the sheeple of the world get annoyed. I figure that'll be about the time they interfere with american idol in some way or another. Or Grey's Anatomy. Until then, those of us with good intent are going to be continued to get kicked to the curb any time a large corporation with deep pockets want something.
They say real life is nothing like school. They are wrong on one point: The bully still wins. Standing up to the bully gets you little more than a bloody nose and some sympathy.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Shut down internet radio = make less money, as those people are now paying you zero
Shut down internet radio = people download more songs in copyright infringing manner rather than listen to a net radio stream
Not Free SF Reader
To boost anonymity tech to keep the pigs at bay.
What?
Compulsory licenses are meant to create efficiencies in the marketplace, such that the radio stations don't need to try and negotiate licenses from every single copyright holder, thus lowering costs for everyone.
Under your plan, though, the compulsory license would no longer engender efficiency; instead, it simply becomes a price ceiling. The radio stations will now have to dicker with every single record company over royalties, costing both groups immense time and money.
What will the result be? Small stations will have to pay higher royalties, as they will not have the leverage in their negotiations that the mega-corporations (i.e. Clear Channel) do. This will eventually force the smaller players out of the market.
Also, any independent artist or small record label will receive ZERO air-time, as it would prove too expensive to the radio stations to negotiate deals with all but the largest labels. Thus, the major labels will tighten their grip on the music industry.
So, the small labels, independent artists, and small radio stations will all take a hit, and possibly disappear. Perhaps you don't think that is a bad thing, but I certainly do.
I hear a lot of comments along the lines of A) use creative commons B) go off shore c) direct negotiations with artists.
I run a radio program. Both (depending on how many artists you'd like to feature or how often you'd like to update that) are unrealistic.
Assuming independent artist *do* want to be heard (and I'd contend that they do) I think all that's missing to make this a powerful vehicle is any real organization behind it.
Want to bad mouth the RIAA? Create something fucking better. I'd bet with enough exposure a lot of small/mid-sized artists and record labels would love to provide cohesive, clear (protective) rights for some kind of limited/promotional broadcasting.
When I started my radio program I immediately began contacting artists, managers and labels directly. They didn't want to provide carte blanche permission. This is an industry and artists/(managers)/labels get taken advantage of. But they were more then eager to provide limited broadcast rights with proper guidelines that could easily be generalized pretty much across the board.
If we like being lead by the balls by an organization we don't feel is treating us with respect, perfect that's *exactly* what we've got. But if you're fucking tired of this? Show them or stop whining.
Quack, quack.
The statement that there are no small broadcast radio stations is simply untrue. You seem to have forgotten about the hundreds of small college radio stations, and non-profit community stations. Many of these would not be able to continue to operate if the same fees they are throwing at internet radio were applied to broadcast. Not to mention, many of these stations increase their base by broadcasting both over the air and on the internet. I wonder how these new fees affect stations that do both... are they getting double-screwed?
Support a true independent artist - Leila Lopez
That's why the really delicious dog meat those Chinese are eating really makes you salivate, eh?
You (probably) don't really know whether you like the taste of dog meat, or not, do you? It's because the culture of the society in which you live prevents you from having the experience of tasting it. And it also has programmed (at least in most Americans) an automatic response of disgust at the very thought of eating dog meat.
If cultural influences do not affect preferences, how do you explain that almost 100% of Americans wouldn't eat dog meat if given the opportunity, and many (wealthy) Chinese do eat dog meat? This isn't related to the fact that most Americans don't like traditional Indian music? Or even to the fact that my parents don't like the same music that I like?
RIAA, et. al., are trying to do the same, to control what people are exposed to. So people won't understand what they are missing, or even reject it outright if exposed to it after their "RIAA programming" is in place....
Even if you're right (and you're not; see other posters), we shouldn't give up on America, and we shouldn't give up on China.
Because, if nothing else, it'll mean others may simply follow, as they've done before. America still does have some muscle in the international world.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Internet radio had such promise, but the medium is getting destroyed just as it started to get off the ground. The recording industry seems to be quite adept at trying to stop anything that would please their customers but damage their industry. Rather then trying to adapt it just tries to kill anything that it perceives as a threat.
Which sort of begs the question "Why do we need the recording industry around anyways?"
About the only thing they do that can be seen as a necessity these days is promotion, and traditional methods of getting bands on your label heard and seen are quickly becoming irrelevant. They pump millions getting their bands airtime on terrestrial radio, a medium that is increasingly pointless (due, in part, to the terrible stuff the record companies are trying to push) They spend huge amounts of money on producing music videos that will never be seen.
At yet none of these things are a necessity for a band to make it. The Internet is a fantastic replacement for these old fashioned practices.
As consumers, we can do our best to purchase independant, non RIAA member labels. For artists, it would be nice to see them stray more and more from signing with major labels and going with one that understands this new market and how to work it.
The Internet is generally stupid