Unless there's a last-minute voluntary settlement over the weekend between the parties negotiating the new round of webcast music copyright fees, the Copyright Royalty Board hearings (analogous to the CARP of several years ago), which are expected to be an expensive, months-long process for all participants, are scheduled to begin in Washington, D.C., on Monday. See RAIN's latest coverage here. xx

In today's issue we have the first segment of our RAIN Las Vegas Summit recap, here. Don't forget, if you'd like to get a first-hand look at the panels, you can watch streaming video of the speakers and panels at TV Worldwide. xx

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation: "The Washington Post reports [and RAIN covered here] that Senators [Dianne] Feinstein (D-Cal.) and [Lindsey] Graham (R-S.C.) have introduced S. 2644, dubbed the PERFORM Act, that is aimed at punishing satellite radio for offering its subscribers devices capable of recording off the air.

"Buried in the bill, however, is a provision that would effectively require music webcasters to use DRM-laden streaming formats, rather than the MP3 streaming format used by Live365, Shoutcast, and many smaller webcasters (like Santa Monica's KCRW and Seattle's KEXP). The streaming radio stations included in iTunes also rely on MP3 streams (since Apple isn't about to license the Real or Microsoft streaming codecs)...

"Under the current law, webcasters are forbidden from helping their listeners record the webcasts, and are required to use DRM only if the format includes DRM... The PERFORM Act would change that, requiring webcasters to use DRM that restricts the recording of webcasts.

"That means no more MP3 streams if you rely on the statutory license. Under the bill, the statutory license would only be available to a webcaster if:

[114(d)(2)(C)(vi)] 'the transmitting entity... uses technology that is reasonably available, technologically feasible, and economically reasonable to prevent the making of copies... except for reasonable recording...'

"What constitutes 'reasonable recording,' you ask? Well, reasonable recording is basically the feature set offered by analog cassette decks in the 1970s:

... the making of a phonorecord... for private, noncommercial use where technological measures... do not permit automated recording or playback based on specific sound recordings, albums, or artists; do not permit the separation of component segments...; and do not permit the redistribution, retransmission or other exporting... by digital outputs or removable media, unless the destination device is part of a secure in-home network...'

"If the PERFORM Act becomes law, webcasters who use the statutory SoundExchange licenses to play music would have to give up MP3 streaming in favor of a DRM-restricted, proprietary formats that impose restrictions on any recordings made. So much for great time-shifting technologies like Streamripper and RadioLover."

Read this entire piece from EFF online here.

BY PAUL MALONEY with DANIEL McSWAIN
New platform, same king: Content.

The webcasting experts contributing to the "How To Grow Your Audience" panel, the first at Monday's RAIN Las Vegas Summit 2006, all agreed -- to varying extents -- that it is exciting and compelling programming, online as it is in older media, that is paramount in building an audience.

[This is the first in a series of articles recapping the Summit. Look for a summary of Kurt Hanson's introductory statements, as well as recaps of all of the panels and speeches, beginning next week in RAIN. Archived webcasts of each of the panels are available at TVWorldwide here.]

Certainly Internet radio's audience is growing. Rockie Thomas, of Spacial Audio, the panel's moderator, framed the discussion in the context of the results of the recent Arbitron/Edison Media Research study, "The Infinite Dial: Radio's Digital Platform" [.pdf file] [RAIN coverage here]. The study shows the number of weekly Internet radio listeners nationwide has jumped 50% over last year -- which means that now 12% of the U.S. population regularly tune in to Internet radio.

With "unlimited" choices, programming wins
Is this growth because of the programming offered by Internet radio? Frank Kavenik (left) certainly believes so. Kavenik is Director of Strategic Initiatives at EMF Broadcasting, which owns and programs 363 Christian radio stations and translators nationwide and streams two online-only channels which feature "positive" AC and rock.

"The quality of our format is what is driving up our audience," he explains. He says the Internet has allowed the proliferation of lots of media sources and almost limitless choices, not just programming from big companies. "Internet radio is becoming more and more relevant to consumers. When channels of distribution were scarce, distribution was king. Now that there are unlimited choices, quality content is king... Our [company's] culture is a culture of programming." He pointed to the importance of research to help fine-tune that programming.

Bachmeier: "Niche" not necessary
And that's not just because you can't find that content on the airwaves. So says Jeff Bachmeier, founder of webcaster Club977.com, the fourth-most-listened-to outlet among Webcast Metrics-measured stations in the latest rankings [RAIN coverage here]. Bachmeier says programming pop music and 80s hits, music readily available in most markets, works for him... because that's the most popular music.

"I can put a radio station on [the Net] and compete and do it better than [terrestrial stations]," he claims. He revealed that his company would soon unveil a portal-like multi-channel service of various mainstream formatted webcasts.

"I've been able to grow my audience by finding... somewhat-established webcasters that need a little direction, putting it all under one umbrella and marketing it all together."

Exploit your "edge"
Webcast Metrics's perennially top-ranked webcaster is DI.fm, a multi-channel service which focuses on dance and electronic music. Its founder, Ari Shohat, recommended exploiting whatever gives your service its "edge" to stand out.

The quality starts with the programming, Shohat says, but can extend to anything special that you do... anything that "gives you an edge" over competitors -- whether that be a well-programmed but under-served musical niche, or "a great technology like [webcaster] Pandora" (of which founder Tim Westergren also participated in the RAIN Summit). Shohat added that a good presentation and good "word-of-mouth" will help the audience growth process.

But with this audience growth can come problems. Having "too many listeners" that you can't monetize will cost you, warned Shohat... and not just in high bandwidth costs.

Latest round of copyright fees pose obstacle
The specter of an impending new set of copyright licensing rates loomed over the entire Summit -- this panel included.

"The (license) fee system is screwed up," said Susquehanna Radio's Sr. VP/GM Group Operations Dan Halyburton, about the system of extracting performance royalties from webcasters for the right to use copyright recordings in their streams.

"In every other business, the 'more you buy, the cheaper it gets.' This is the one place where you are penalized for success. The lack of wisdom in the copyright court has stymied both industries, webcast-only and broadcasters, because the fee structure simply doesn't work."

A later panel featured attorneys and Internet radio experts David Oxenford and Bruce Joseph discussing the current recording copyright royalty situation. Look for a recap on this and every panel and speech from the RAIN Summit in the coming days in RAIN.

From Ad Age: "Coming soon to iTunes: ads. Apple -- a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience -- will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service, according to content partners who have been briefed on the plan. The introduction of visual ads could be the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods.

"That's sure to entice advertisers interested in reaching millions of devotees of the service. But it could be worrisome to the service's users, who unplug from ad-supported media when they plug their earphones in.

"That may be why Apple's current plans call for the ads to appear only in the lower-left corner of the iTunes library while users listen to podcasts from their computers rather than from portable devices. But it's a big step for the service, which has so far limited ad intrusions to audio spots embedded in some of the podcasts offered via iTunes...

"What's more compelling is what it might mean for other iTunes content, and specifically whether Apple might allow advertising in its premium content, for which it charges users."

Read the entire article at Ad Age.