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BY PAUL MALONEY
 Major
radio broadcasters Susquehanna
Radio Corporation and Cox
Radio, Inc., and major webcaster Radio
Free Virgin have pledged their support of Internet radio's
"Day of Silence" protest of the CARP webcasting royalty
proposal.
 And
though there are not yet more commitments, there are at least
two other major broadcasters considering doing the same.
Hundreds of Internet radio stations and channels will go silent
on Wednesday, May 1, to call attention to a U.S. Copyright Office-proposed
royalty rate which many believe will bankrupt the industry. Webcasters
will participate in the "Day of Silence" event in different
fashions. Some will silence their streams altogether, save for quiet
 sound
effects and/or Public Service Announcements explaining the matter.
Others will take part in 12-hour talk show originating at webcaster
WolfFM.com.
Zack Zalon (below left) heads Radio Free Virgin, a webcasting
station offering over 40 channels of various genres of music. He told
RAIN, "Lawmakers must support the independence, diversity and
creativity that online radio represents. Furthermore, in the absence
of legitimate entertainment options such as online radio, pirate services
will flourish and deny artists the dues that we’re all fighting for."
Both Susquehanna Senior VP/GM of group operations Dan
Halyburton and Cox Radio Interactive VP Gregg
Lindahl (pictured right) spoke with RAIN's Kurt
Hanson late last week, and both executives pledged to run heavy schedules
of PSAs on their streamed webcasts, alerting their
listeners to the situation and directing them to SaveInternetRadio
org to learn more.
In February, when the CARP proposal was announced, Halyburton
commented to the L.A. Times "I just don't know how we could have been
any more clear about how expensive and about how little to no money
we've been making in this area...you just may have witnessed the end
of commercial streaming on the Internet."
Likewise, Lindahl told RAIN today, "While we are hopeful solutions
will be found, the continued availability of our streamed AM/FM signals
are very much in doubt should the current proposals stand unaltered.
In order to keep our streaming users informed, we will answer the
call on May 1 by inserting audio PSAs into the streams and by placing
informational links and banners on our sites."
For more on Internet radio's upcoming "Day of Silence,"
see last Thursday's RAIN here.
From USA Today: "Hundreds of Internet radio stations
plan to go silent Wednesday to protest proposed record-label
royalty payments they say would endanger their industry...
"This follows last week's move by members of Congress
to take up the cause of Internet radio — an increasingly popular form
of Web entertainment.
"Twenty congressional representatives sent a letter urging
the US Copyright Office to make sure the new rates don't harm Net
broadcasters. The copyright office has until May 21 to accept or reject
new rates recommended in February by an arbitration panel...
"Net radio must pay to play music because of concerns
over digital copying...
"'Over 10,000 faxes were delivered to Congress alone,' says
Kurt Hanson, publisher of Radio
And Internet Newsletter, which is organizing listeners at
his saveinternetradio.org
site.
'It has brought attention to the medium and let the decision-makers
realize this is a legitimate issue that could decimate an industry...'
"'It's unfair to say we're the ones who should give them
a free ride,' says John Simpson
of RIAA affiliate Sound
Exchange, which collects licensing fees. 'We've seen a lot
of Webcasters go out of business well before they had to pay any royalties
to artists. I didn't see them going to Congress to get bandwidth costs
down.'
"GartnerG2 analyst P.J. McNealy predicts the proposed
royalty schedule will be thrown out and the copyright office will
respond to public pressure and start over again.
"'The rates are just too exorbitant to allow for a reasonable
business model,' he says. 'They are based on outdated
data from two years ago, when the market was booming.'"
Read the entire article in today's USA Today, or click
here
to see it online.
This article has an excellent "side bar" piece that's
an introduction and guide to online radio. It's called "All that
jazz, and everything else, on Net radio." The article reveals
that Nielsen/NetRatings studies show Yahoo!'s Launch attracted 5.97
"users" in March, more than twice that of MSN Music's 2.4
million, and well beyond AOL's Spinner's 495,000. These numbers are
"site visitors" however, they don't give any indication
of the amount of actual listening -- though the article says about
20% of visitors are thought to tune in for some amount of time.
See this piece in today's USA Today, or read it online
here.
update! |
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Webcasters
previously confirmed
for the "Day of Silence"
| AllDanzRadio |
Audiocandy.com |
BumpNgrind Radio |
| Choice Radio |
ChronixRadio |
ClevelandHits.com |
| CyberRadio2000 |
Cyberspace Sonata |
Daily Dementia Overdose |
| Destination Doo-Wop |
Digitally Imported |
TheDownbeat |
| Flaresound |
Green Mist Radio |
Guitar Rock Radio |
| HardRadio |
HitzRadio |
iNetProgramming |
| Internet Radio Hawai'i |
KCRW/Santa Monica |
KING-FM/Seattle |
| KPIG/Freedom, CA |
KOZT/Mendocino County |
KUSA Radio |
| KTRU/Rice University |
M4Radio |
Mostly Classical |
| RadioIO |
Radio Margaritaville |
RadioMaxMusic |
| Radio Paradise |
RAIN Radio |
Rave Network |
| Red White & Blue Radio |
Reign Radio |
SmoothJazz.com |
| SomaFM |
The Sonic Chronicles |
Stanford University |
| The70sStation |
3WK |
TwangTownUSA |
| Twangcast |
Ultimate-80s |
Village Voice Radio |
| WCSB/Cleveland |
WebRadioPugetSound |
WETD/Alfred State College |
| WGEV/Geneva College |
WICB/Ithica College |
WMVY/Martha's Vineyard |
| WOLF FM |
World Music Webcast |
WSIA/Staten Island |
| Zoetek World Radio |
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Some of the latest webcasters
to join the "Day of Silence"
Antennaradio
(eclectic), BigBlueRadio (rock/classic rock), Blue
IceWater Radio (blues), Clickandgroove
(dance), Cyberspace
Sonata (classical), DainBramage
(rock), FACBA, Gigamusic, TheGreenLounge, Guitar
Rock Radio (rock/metal), Headrock Networks, Hotlick
(rock), IdahosCast.Com, IPM
Radio (independent labels), I-TRACS, KGSR-FM/Austin
(AAA), KLBJ-FM/Austin (AOR), KROX-FM/Austin (alternative),
LVRocks.com, Maddog
Rock Radio, The
Megarock Network (rock), Music
Box 1690,
NewPowerRadio, 97X/Oxford, OH
(alternative), 106-VIC/Ithaca College, Personal
Success Radio (talk), POV Radio, Progged Radio,
Radio Free Akron
('80s), Radio Free
BD (rock), RantRadio
(industrial), Stang's Garage, Sunset
Jazz (smooth jazz), That
'70s Rock Stream ('70s), WDOA,
WETD-FM/Alfred State College, WMOC
Radio (urban), XTC
Radio (trance/techno/house), and Xtreme
Internet Radio (modern rock & hip-hop). (Note:
This list covers only commitments received through Saturday
12N. More to follow!)
The following webcasters and broadcasters, while not currently
intending to go silent, plan to support the effort with heavy
schedules of PSAs (that will include a moment of silence
— e.g., "Here's what Internet radio may sound like on May 22nd..."):
| Beethoven.com |
ClassicalMusicDetroit |
Cox Radio, Inc. |
| Live365.com |
Radio Free Virgin |
Most of the top Shoutcast and Winamp
Radio stations |
| Susquehanna Radio |
WFMU/Jersey City |
|
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Help
support this effort —
and help keep Internet radio from a premature death!
To add your station to the list of broadcasters and
webcasters crying "Mayday! Mayday!" on
May 1st, e-mail Kurt here.
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From the New York Post: "If you try to listen
to your favorite Internet radio station on Wednesday and you don't
hear any
music, don't be surprised. Web-casters are banding together in what's
being called a 'Day of Silence' to get the word out that their industry's
future is on the line.
 "The
one-day blackout and informational blitz comes three weeks before
The US Copyright Office has to decide whether to accept, reject
or amend a ruling from an arbitration panel that, if accepted, could
put thousands of Webcasters out of business. 'We're seriously concerned,'
Raghav Gupta, chief operating
officer of Live365.com
told The Post.
"Gupta, whose company is the top-ranked online radio
network in terms of listening hours, according to Arbitron, first
proposed the idea of radio stations going dark for a day or running
informational programming
about the Webcasters predicament. Popular online radio stations
such as Beethoven.com,
HardRadio, KPIG
and M4Radio will
participate in the 'Day of Silence,' and all involved hope the event
will get the public to take notice of their plight...
"'A day of silence is a perfectly appropriate message because
the public should know what the world would be like
without the music that everybody takes for granted. If the people
who make the music don't get paid to do so, that's what we'll have
-- silence,' said John Simson, director of SoundExchange, an RIAA-affiliated
group that decides how best to collect royalties from digital music
firms.
"But Webcasters argue that the music industry is turning
its back on a burgeoning industry that helps promote music. 'Internet
radio is really a fantastic
promotional outlet,' Kurt Hanson, publisher of RAIN: Radio
And Internet Newsletter told The Post.
"'Internet radio listeners and Webcasters are the biggest
music fans in the world. The record labels are trying to kill their
best friends. If they succeed, where are the fans going to go?'"
Read the entire article in today's New York Post,
or read it online
here.
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From a WarpRadio press release: "WarpRadio
(has signed an) agreement with Tune-Up Inc. of Denver to assist
the company through its reorganization. Tune-up Inc. has over 20
years experience helping
established as well as development stage companies with a proven
track record for successful emergence from chapter 11 including
public companies. The Company has retained Bill Shenkin, president
of Tune-up, as acting CFO...
"The WarpRadio network...is currently the third largest
in the US, only behind Clear Channel and Virgin Radio...
"WarpRadio has also signed an agreement with Microsoft
to participate in the Windows Media Advertising Program with revenues
beginning to be realized by the company currently through this program.
With over 300 Microsoft sales representatives, WarpRadio should
be able to benefit from their ability to charge higher advertising
rates as well as gaining penetration to the larger advertisers more
effectively."
Read the entire press release here.
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