Pandora Wants Radio Stations To Pay For Music, Too

suraj.sun sends along an Ars writeup of the lobbying Pandora is doing now that it has secured its future, royalties-wise. Some might think it odd that Pandora is weighing in on the side of the record labels in their fight to get radio stations to pay more for the music they broadcast. "US radio stations don't pay performers and producers for the music they play, but the recording industry hopes to change that with a new performance rights bill in Congress. Webcaster Pandora has jumped into the fray on the side of the artists and labels, asking why radio gets a free ride when Pandora does not. ... With revenues from recorded music sales declining, rights-holders have turned their eyes in recent years to commercial US radio, which currently pays songwriters (but not performers or record labels)... With its own future secure for the next few years, Pandora is now turning its attention to the public performance debate here in the US, saying that the issue is a simple matter of fairness: why should webcasters have to pay more for music than traditional radio does? ... [But] the 'fairness' argument could clearly go either way. Radio might start paying a performance right; on the other hand, perhaps webcasters and satellite radio companies should simply stop paying one, relying on the old argument about promotion."

Comments

Contact your state senator!!!

[madhatter256]

Seriously. Email/write/call your state representative about this bill and tell them how this bill is severely diminish the quality of all radios out there. Urge them to vote against it!!

It's enough that we have to pay higher taxes, but don't let them take away our free music.

Re:What?

[gnick]

Sorry for the admittedly off-topic self-reply, but it seems a little rough to post this article so late at night (by Mountain-time US standards) when so many registered users will be viewing this from areas that just lost Pandora... Sorry non-USians. We like the RIAA even less than you. As soon as your citizens get stupid enough to pump as much $$ as ours have into Britney Spears and the like (or smart enough to start supporting diverse talent on the same level as we support a select few pop stars), your RIAA equivalents can start competing with ours and we can suffer equally instead of selfishly.

Do you need access to a good torrent server to substitute for the lack of streaming of American music? I'm afraid it's the best I can offer.

(Please mods, don't confuse attempted humor for Troll. Hit me with Off-topic if I failed to interest you, but not the Troll mod - I am no Troll.)

Re:All For It

[BitZtream]

The RIAA giving radio a compelling reason to play independent artists is exactly what we need.

Great, now instead of listening to at least well produced (probably still bad) music on the radio, now we'll be listening to a bunch of 'indie artists' who don't realize the reason they are 'indie' is because they fucking suck, not because they haven't been discovered.