RAIN: Radio And Internet Newsletter

BY PAUL MALONEY
The previously-embattled Scour file exchange site has reemerged (in beta "testing" form) from CenterSpan, and now includes an Internet radio feature.

In July of last year, the RIAA (the record industry) and NMPA (music publishers) filed suit against Scour for copyright infringements along the lines of Napster. By October, Scour filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The following month, it was announced that Listen.com was to purchase the file exchange service's assets (RAIN coverage here). Two weeks later Scour shut down, and announced that CenterSpan had entered a competitive (and ultimately successful) bid for the company (in RAIN here).

The beta site (available here) is sparsely populated at this time, but Scour promises promotional music and video selections from the likes of MGM, Universal Pictures, Virgin Record's 2KSounds

and NBCi will soon be available. Audio files currently available include music from They Might Be Giants, Violent Femmes, Echo and the Bunnymen, Jethro Tull, and entire albums from artists like Kris Kristofferson and Ron Sexsmith.

The radio feature designed by RadioCentral (which also powers web radio for Earthlink and the A&E Network site). The feature includes hosted, streaming audio in Rock, Hip Hop, and Electronic formats. The DJ cut-ins are customized to not only the site, but the channel ("You're listening to Scour Rock.").

Interestingly enough, especially given Scour's touchy past with the RIAA, the radio player includes a "Next" display which reveals the upcoming artist and song title. It seems that such a feature would violate the DMCA, the law to which the RIAA has demanded strict adherence for compulsory license eligibility.

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From CNet News.com: "Struggling to make new song-blocking software work, Napster on Monday temporarily stopped all file trading on its once-popular service.

"The hiatus comes shortly after Napster disabled old versions of its software. It pushed its members to a new version that rendered the service all but unusable, blocking even the most obscure, uncopyrighted works from being traded.

"But people logging on Monday morning were unable to trade even the few songs left. The company posted a message on its Web page saying that 'file transfers have been temporarily suspended while Napster upgrades its databases.'

"The closed doors represent the latest setback for a service that has become all but irrelevant in the day-to-day world of online consumer music. Most of the millions of people that once flocked to Napster on a daily basis have fled for alternative services."

Read the entire article here.

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In an article today regarding the legal face off between the record industry and webcasters, USA Today cites two interesting facts of which we were previously unaware. First, the Recording Artists Coalition has shown support for webcasters, presumably because they see webcasting as an effective promotional tool. Second, this is the first time we've heard the RIAA claim that their hand has been forced in their suit against alleged "interactive" webcasters by other webcasters who feel the playing field isn't level.

From USA Today: "Users aren't downloading songs for free or trading pirated tracks with friends. But the

Recording Industry Association of America, fresh from court wins against song-swap service Napster, has turned its legal sights to MTV and other Internet radio services that let consumers participate in what they hear...

"Unlike the Napster battle, musicians so far are siding with the Webcasters.

"'We want to see independent distribution of music online, and the Webcasters thrive,' says Noah Stone of the Recording Artists Coalition, formed this year by Don Henley and Sheryl Crow to look out for the interests of musicians. 'The labels' controlling this new path and the old path doesn't do the

artists or consumers any good...'

"The battles have been spurred by the rules in 1998's Digital Millennium Copyright Act, when music labels feared a new world in which Net users listening to music online could record crystal-clear copies, eliminating the need to ever buy a CD again.

"So specific provisions were written into the DMCA, which MTV, Launch, Xact and MusicMatch adhere to:

• Webcasters can't tell users what the next song is. MusicMatch gets around this by informing who the upcoming performer is.
• All abide by the rule of playing no more than three songs from any album, and no more than two consecutively, within a three-hour block.
• They also can't play more than four songs by a specific artist within three hours.

"The 'almost-on-demand' music sites aren't big now, but Net radio clearly is growing. Market research firm Webnoize says 21% of young Net users (ages 16 to 24) say they use Net radio as their primary source

of listening, up from 1% in 1998. Overall, 75.5 million in the USA currently listen to Net radio...

"The RIAA's Cary Sherman says the trade group was forced to sue when other Webcasters complained that Launch, SonicNet and others were stretching the boundaries. 'It's not fair to have a half a dozen Webcasters do it differently,' he says...

"The RIAA doesn't think the Webcasters are entitled to the compulsory license. But recording artists could fare better under such a deal. If deals are negotiated between labels and Webcasters, the labels then can pay artists the rate defined in their contract with the label, 'which could be little or nothing,' Stone says."

Read the entire article here.

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From the press release: "Sirius Satellite Radio announced it filed a $500 million shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sirius will use the proceeds of future sales of the securities for general corporate purposes, including working capital.

"'Currently we have more than enough cash to take us through the third quarter of 2002. We filed this shelf registration statement to allow us the flexibility to access the capital markets in the future; however, the company does not intend to issue securities at this time,' said John Scelfo, Chief Financial Officer of Sirius.

Read the entire press release here.


July 19-22, 2001	The Conclave Learning Conference: Minneapolis
Aug. 15-18, 2001	Gavin Summit IX: Boulder, CO
Sept. 5-7, 2001	XStream: Broadcasting on the Internet at the NAB Radio Show: New Orleans, LA
Nov. 1, 2001	Inside Radio: The Future of Radio Fly-in 2001: University of Southern California