RIAA Claims Ownership of All Artist Royalties For Internet Radio

ISurfTooMuch writes "With the furor over the impending rate hike for Internet radio stations, wouldn't a good solution be for streaming internet stations to simply not play RIAA-affiliated labels' music and focus on independent artists? Sounds good, except that the RIAA's affiliate organization SoundExchange claims it has the right to collect royalties for any artist, no matter if they have signed with an RIAA label or not. 'SoundExchange (the RIAA) considers any digital performance of a song as falling under their compulsory license. If any artist records a song, SoundExchange has the right to collect royalties for its performance on Internet radio. Artists can offer to download their music for free, but they cannot offer their songs to Internet radio for free ... So how it works is that SoundExchange collects money through compulsory royalties from Webcasters and holds onto the money. If a label or artist wants their share of the money, they must become a member of SoundExchange and pay a fee to collect their royalties.'"

Comments

Re:when I was a young boy

[iminplaya]

The FCC was a similar operation until the 80s. They used to deal with mostly technical matters. Now, even the prestige of a first class phone license is hardly worth the paper its printed on. Sweet dreams, America. Enjoy your blissful slumber.

Independent Only Wouldn't Work

[pauk_11]

The RIAA has simply turned into another basic union. Every union in the US was good at some point but they have all far surpassed that honorable period. This is just another bureaucratic organization more concerned with its own bottom-line than culture or the general public.

Look at the carpenter's unions. Do you think the US is a better place because each hour they cost the employer about $80? These are mostly uneducated, only moderately skilled workers, commanding huge wage and benefit packages. This ultimately leads to ridiculous housing costs that get passed down to the consumer.

The baseball players union is in the same boat. They are the main reason why the average family can barely afford a trip to the ballpark. ARod was originally slated to be traded to the Red Sox in a deal where he would accept a small paycut. The players union vetoed it, as they didn't want a man with a $250m deal taking any sort of a pay cut.

Want to know why a movie costs $100m to make these days? Hollywood unions (editors/actors/etc). Want to know why cable is so expensive? Unions. Are the owners passing the costs down to the consumer? Yes, of course. Owners take the risk, for that risk they want 10% profit. So any increased costs are getting passed down. This is why manufacturing is getting done overseas. American workers have gotten so expensive that it is cheaper to build something and ship it thousands of miles on huge ships, and then drive it around the country, than to make it in this country.

The worst part is that I'm 99% Democrat/Liberal. Unfortunately as an owner of a unionized company I see how unions have made markets unprofitable and not worth the risk. The average consumer will be hard pressed to push the RIAA to cut the pork. The only ones that can change things are the unionized workers themselves. Get Bono and Madonna to gather their friends and fight the RIAA, then maybe we'll see some change.

Re:RTFA

[fyngyrz]

Who put that government there I wonder? Whoops, that was the people of the United States.

No, it really wasn't. A small group of people, long since dead, wrote up the constituting authority for the legitimate government.

Very few of today's citizens have signed off on that authority, or taken an oath with regard to it. I know I certainly didn't, nor would I without substantial changes. Aside from that, the end result we have today bears very little resemblance to that old document, and I really wouldn't sign off on the rights-crushing, war-mongering, federal tyrannosaur that is running the show today. It needs to die, and I surely wish it would.

The fact is, our government is not under our control in any way, shape or form. Anyone who thinks it is has been deceived, or is bewildered. The current structure represents the interests of a very wealthy and powerful elite, as well as groups of corporate citizens. That's why we can't get out of Iraq. That's why we got in. That's why 9 out of 10 of the bill of rights are worthless. That's why you can't make informed decisions about personal, consensual issues. That's why marriage is a religion-inspired gateway to government privilege.

Doesn't matter. No one is willing to risk their comfort to rattle the government's cage, so this sleigh-ride downhill will only pick up speed until we crash. We are a pale shadow of our forefathers.