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A majority
of the largest independent webcasters have now committed
to participating in a "Day of Silence" on May 1st,
hoping to send out a "Mayday! Mayday!" regarding the
impending Copyright Office decision and its potential to decimate
the Internet radio industry. (Most participants
will run periods of silence (or crickets) interspersed with
PSAs; others may pull their streams down entirely or may run
a talk show produced by WOLF FM's Steve Wolf.)
Read more about the "Day of Silence" concept in
Monday's issue of RAIN (here).
If you'd like to add your station to the list of participating
webcasters, e-mail Kurt here
and we'll include you in the press release that goes out this
afternoon. |
 BY
PAUL MALONEY
Royalty-collection agency SoundExchange, which was launched
by the RIAA, has begun a "grass roots" effort of their own
-- in support of the CARP royalty rate recommendation.
In response to webcasters' efforts to convince Congress and
the U.S. Copyright Office that the proposed webcasting royalty rate
will decimate the industry, SoundExchange
purchased the inside front cover ad in the industry magazine Billboard
asking sympathetic readers to contact their Congressmen. (Click here
to see a bigger scan of the ad or here
for the .pdf file).
In an "open letter" to "the music community"
entitled "Tell Congress the Truth About Webcasting Rates,"
the ad accuses webcasters and broadcasters of "launch(ing)
a campaign to undermine the  arbitration
process," and "inundating Congress with complaints"
that webcasting fees are too high, while paying market fees for streaming
and rent. And like earlier assertions from the record industry, the
ad claims at least some of the webcasters' arguments are "based
on misinformation."
SoundExchange is the unincorporated division of the RIAA
established to collect performance royalties for digital use of recordings.
It is this agency that is designated to collect and distribute to
labels and artists the royalties webcasters would pay to use their
music.
Those who follow the link to SoundExchange's website can send
a "preformatted" letter to their representative in Congress
which asks the legislator to "oppose any attempts by the webcasters
and broadcasters to persuade Congress to interfere with that arbitration,"
and  makes
specific mention of Arbitron's call for a moratorium on royalties
(see RAIN here).
"Let More Senators, more Representatives, More fairness and
independent experts, not special interests, govern these proceedings,"
encourages the letter. "They (copyright owners and musicians)
have already been waiting four years for these royalties...four years
is long enough and recording artists and background musicians and
vocalists should not have to wait any longer for this much-needed
income."
Accusing webcasters and broadcasters of "misleading propaganda,"
the letter attempts to convince lawmakers the Internet radio industry
has overstated audience sizes and royalty rates, adding, "Webcasters
and simulcasters are not entitled to a free ride or a subsidy."
The Librarian of Congress, James Billington,
has until May 21 to accept or reject the US Copyright Office's final
recommendation, or announce that a modification of the rate will follow.
...
 |
...
SoundExchanges's automated "Send a letter to your
Congressional representatives" feature of the SoundExchange
website (here)
is far more sophisticated than anything webcasters have been
able to come up with.
Nonetheless, the letter takes the "little guy"
approach: "Recording artists and background musicians and
vocalists should not have to wait any longer for this much-needed
income."
The proposed letter says, among other things, "The
[CARP] Panel did not believe that the royalty it recommended
would destroy the streaming industry."
I believe that's not true; under the "willing buyer
/ willing seller" criterion that the RIAA encouraged Congress
to set as the standard for their decision, the Panel was not
authorized to consider whether the industry would be destroyed
or not. -- KH
... |
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From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "New rules
about Internet radio royalties are going to pull the plug on many
sites that broadcast music over the Web.
"Experts say the millions that Web casters will have
to pay retroactively will
bankrupt small operations and silence thousands of independent voices
on the Internet.
"'Internet radio is one of the fastest-growing and coolest
things about the Internet,' said Kurt Hanson,
publisher of RAIN: Radio and Internet Newsletter" (pictured
in photo at right in Milwaukee with parents and sister Jane). 'It's
the perfect counter to the consolidation and homogenization of terrestrial
radio right now.
"'The decision will effectively bankrupt all Webcasters,
and there may be three or four left if it's accepted,' he said...
 "Web
site radio 'streams' music to computers through a temporary,
continuous feed. Listeners anywhere can enjoy stations with music
that might otherwise fail in small and midsize communities..."
"John Jeffrey, executive vice president for Live365.com,
said a major problem with the royalty rates is that the copyright
panel based its decision
primarily on an early music broadcast deal between the RIAA and
Yahoo! The amount Yahoo
pays to the RIAA has not been made public, but it's acknowledged
the  deal
heavily influenced the copyright panel.
"'Everyone wanted the rate to be based on a percentage of
revenue and instead it was per song and per listener,' said Jeffrey,
whose site lets professionals and hobbyists set up their own Internet
radio stations. 'Now people will be paying expensive royalties before
their businesses get profitable. Large companies can bankroll it...but
those growing businesses will have raised a lot of money...'
"Edward Fritts, president and CEO of the National Association
of Broadcasters, issued a statement soon after the rates were revealed
saying that "if the powerful record company interests' goal
was to strangle a fledgling new service to radio listeners, it may
have succeeded beyond its own expectations."
Read the entire article from yesterday's Journal-Sentinel
here.
 |
Walter
and Pat Hanson, Kurt's parents, are pictured at left trying
to figure out the value of the CueCat device that Forbes
magazine sent them last year.
Mrs. Hanson's e-mail to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's
media columnist apparently led to yesterday's article! |
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From Salon.com: "Joseph Byrd recorded a pair of experimental
psychedelic albums for Columbia Records in the late 1960s.  Since
then, he says he's earned a few thousand dollars in composer's fees
but hasn't received a single penny in artist's royalties.
"It's not for lack of trying. Byrd says he sent his
first letter of complaint to the label in 1976, and over the years
he's repeatedly asked for financial statements on album sales and
royalties. Letters have been sent, phone calls have been made. But
even as his recordings -- 'The United States of America' and 'The
American Metaphysical Circus' -- began to reappear on compact disc,
Columbia and its parent company (Sony) continued to ignore Byrd's
pleas...
 "'The
record companies' representation that they are legitimate agents
for their artists is false,' he [says]. 'The only payments they
make are to those who have the means to force them to be accountable;
to the rest, a vast majority, they pay nothing. Therefore, allowing
them to collect fees in our behalf does not serve the public interest.
I personally would prefer to allow my music to be freely shared,
to the present situation, in which only the corporations stand to
gain. Until this is changed, the record companies and publishers
deserve nothing...'
"Byrd believes that the album wouldn't still be available
if it weren't selling. So even if only a few thousand albums or
tapes or CDs are sold each year, Byrd figures he's owed several
thousand dollars. His experience with other albums confirms his
sense that there is money due. In 1978 he produced an album for
Ry Cooder called 'Jazz.' 'That cost $75,000 to make and it took
about two years to pay off the debt,' he says. 'Then I started getting
royalties...'
"Byrd's problem may have been caused by simple oversight,
says [Future of Music
Coalition lawyer Walter] McDonough.
Sony's purchase of CBS Records and Columbia in 1987 is only one
example of an ongoing massive industrywide consolidation, "and with
consolidation, there are fewer people doing more work," McDonough
says. "They don't have time to dedicate to these kinds of things."
He suggests that Byrd hire a lawyer and an auditor who would check
Sony's books and get a copy of his contract...
"He [Byrd] says he is bothered by what he calls the
industries' 'cynical confidence,' the way the Recording Industry
Association of America can claim with a straight face that it is
fighting the file-trading scourge on behalf of artists. But his
overall reaction has largely been one of amazement at "the fact
that nobody has ever managed to make these people do business like
businesspeople," he says...
"The RIAA and groups like the Future of Music Coalition
beg to differ. Both organizations, though usually lined up on opposite
sides, contend that artists are stronger and better off now than
ever before."
Read this entire article in Salon.com here.
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From CNet News.com: "A new candidate to become center of
the file-swapping universe has been unveiled: Vanuatu,
a
small group of Islands in the South Pacific.
"That's where Sharman Networks, the parent company of
the hugely popular Kazaa
software, is registered to do business, according to Chief Executive
Nikki Hemming. After months of speculation about the mysterious file-trading
company, Hemming went public with this and other details of her business
in a conference call late Tuesday...
 "Sharman
itself is registered for tax reasons in Vanuatu, an island nation
that advertises itself on its Web site as "The South Pacific's premiere
tax haven." Day-to-day operations are conducted in Sydney by an affiliated
management company...
"Sharman is the largest peer-to-peer company that hasn't
been sued by recording companies or movie studios. Kazaa BV, the Dutch
company that sold Sharman its software, is still being sued. StreamCast
Networks and Grokster, two companies that initially shared the Dutch
file-swapping technology, also are being sued."
See this entire CNet News.com article here. |
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| Apr. 23-26, 2002 |
Streaming
Media West 2002: Los Angeles, CA |
| Apr. 25-26, 2002 |
Beyond
the DMCA: A Copyright Conference: Washington, DC |
| July 25-28, 2002 |
The
Conclave 2002 Learning Conference: Minneapolis, MN |
| Sept. 12-14,
2002 |
NAB
Radio Show 2002: Seattle, WA |
| October 1-4,
2002 |
Streaming
Media East: New York, NY |
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