|
|
 |
|
BY PAUL MALONEY
 Decrying
a government-proposed royalty rate on musical recordings that
they say would make operating their businesses impossible, hundreds
of webcasters and broadcasters -- totaling literally thousands of
streams -- are suspending their normal programming today.
The Internet radio industry has united today in making an emergency
cry of "Mayday! Mayday!" in declaring this "Day of
Silence."
Meanwhile, a website created by this publication centered on
this matter, SaveInternetRadio.org,
is seeing traffic at a rate of three visitors per second. (RAIN,
as of 8:30 CDT this morning, has already
set a new one-day record for e-mails from readers).
At issue is the rate of the royalty for which radio on the
Internet would be liable to pay to use copyrighted music. A government
appointed arbitration panel in February announced that Internet radio
webcasters would be compelled to pay 0.14¢ for every listener
that hears every song -- potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars
per year! (Broadcasters who simulcast their programming on the Internet
would be charged at a rate half of that.) Both forms of streaming
would also carry an additional 9% charge for "ephemeral"
copies of recordings.
Possibly most crippling of all is the fact that 'Net radio
operators would be retroactively liable for royalties
dating to October of 1998.
The resulting royalty charges would almost certainly bankrupt
nearly all independent webcasters, and force broadcasters to abandon
their Internet streams.
On the other side of the issue are the five major record labels
and their industry organization, the Recording
Industry Association of America. They claim the royalties
are justified compensation for recording artists and copyright owners
whose property would be used to build profitable businesses by webcasters.
While many webcasters have substituted their normal music programming
with sound effects or simple silence (the screenshot above is from
iMNetworks station ChronixRadio),
many others have opted to carry a simulcast of a 12-hour talk show
meant to inform listeners of the situation the industry faces, and
inspire them to express their dismay to their representatives in Congress.
Other webcasters and broadcasters, though choosing not to alter
their regular programming, are nonetheless supporting the cause by
running public service announcements about the situation. (Please
see more details below).
Watch
this space -- more participants will be added as they come in! |
 |
| Webcasters and
broadcasters that will be participating -- in some form -- in
the "Day of Silence" include the following: |
Adventures In Radio, African to the Bone, AllDanzRadio, All
Top40 Hits, Altrok.com, Alt Songsters to the Bone, AmericanDnB.com,
Antennaradio, Audiocandy.com, Audiorealm, Beethoven.com, Beta
Lounge, BigBlueRadio, Blake Radio _mp3, Blue IceWater Radio,
Blues to the Bone, Bollywood, Boomer Radio, Box O Bones, BumpNgrind
Radio, Busted Heart Radio, Cafe Twilight, Cajun N Country to
the Bone, Celtic to the Bone ChitrapatSangeet, Choice Radio,
ChronixRadio, ClassicalMusicDetroit, ClevelandHits.com, Clickandgroove,
Clubradiomix Cybermedia, CMRadio.net, CNet Radio, Cox Radio
Inc., CRC Radio, CyberRadio2000, Cyberspace Sonata, Daily Dementia
Overdose, DainBramage, Damase's Pirate Radio _mp3, Darcade,
Destination Doo-Wop, Dev Team Stream, DH NetRadio, Digitalis,
Digitally Imported, TheDownbeat, Dream Chamber, and Drone Sickness.
|
Energy 80s (Northern Ireland), Engines of Reagan, Extra Smooth,
FACBA, Female Voices, Festerhead Radio, 50s RnB to the Bone,
Flaresound, 400 Years of Hits,
Gigamusic, GoodTimeOldiesRadio.com, Good Times Radio, GorillaForce,
Gospel to the Bone TheGreenLounge, Green Mist Radio, Guitar
Rock Radio, HardRadio, Headrock Networks, Hillbilly Radio, HitzRadio,
Hot Bubblegum 100, Hotlick, House Party, and Hyperspace.
|
TheIceberg.com (of Canada, co-owned by Standard Radio and CHUM
Group Radio), IdahosCast.Com, IndiePopRadio.com, iNetProgramming,
Internet Radio Hawai'i, InvisibleRadio.com, IPM Radio, I-TRACS,
Jazz to the Bone, Jazzeteria, Jolt Radio, Just Classic Rock,
KABZ/Little Rock AR, KALX-FM/Berkeley, KCRW/Santa Monica, KFJC-FM/Los
Altos Hills CA, KFRadioOne, KGSR-FM/Austin, Kickin' Kountry,
Kids Cafe _mp3, KING-FM/Seattle, KLBJ-FM/Austin, KMPC/Los Angeles,
KPIG/Freedom CA, KOZT/Mendocino County, KROX-FM/Austin, KRUI-FM/University
of Iowa, KTOZ-AM/Springfield MO, KTRU/Rice University, KUSA
Radio, Latebarradio.com, Latin to the Bone, Limbik Frequencies,
Live365.com, Love Field, Lovecats, Lovin' An Elevator (on Live365),
and LVRocks.com.
|
Maddog Rock Radio, MainLine Rock, The Megarock Network, Memory
LAME Radio, M4Radio, MIBN1.com, Mocradio.com, Modern A Cappella,
Modern Rock Hits, Mostly Classical, Movie Music, Muddy Channel,
Murder Betrayal and Redemption, Music Box 1690, Music Inner
City Radio, Musika Filipino, Nekkid Radio, New Orleans to the
Bone, NewPowerRadio, 9th Lounge, 97X/Oxford OH, N-Joy Radio
(Scandinavia), Not AA Radio mp3, Nuevo Wave-O, Old Dawg Country,
106-VIC/Ithaca College, On-The-I.com, OutletRadio.com, Paradynamic
Roadhouse, Personal Success Radio, Planet Musiquarium, POV Radio,
Premiere Broadcasting stations (in Columbia MO), and Progged
Radio.
|
Qawwali-On-Demand, Quietmusic _mp3, Radio Fantastica _mp3, Radio
Free Akron, Radio Free BD, Radio Free Blues _mp3, Radio Free
Eric _mp3, Radio Free Jazz _mp3, Radio Free Klezmer _mp3, Radio
Free Virgin, RadioIO, Radio Margaritaville, RadioMaxMusic, Radio
Paradise, Radio Spugnor, RadioStorm, RAIN Radio, RantRadio,
Rastaman's Reggae, Rave Network, Red White & Blue Radio, Reign
Radio, Renradio, Resonant Radio, Rock&Roll.FM, Salem Broadcasting's
Los Angeles cluster, Shuaku No Bi, 60s RnB to the Bone, SKa*Town
_mp3, SmoothJazz.com, Snooze Hits, Solvent Loud Radio, SomaFM,
The Sonic Chronicles, Spacerant, Sporting News Radio (Internet
stream), Stanford University streaming media, Stang's Garage,
Succubus, Sun-Music, Sunset Jazz, Super 70s, Susquehanna Radio,
Sweet Revenge, Swing Central, Symphonie Melancholia, Technicolor
Web of Sound, The Breakbeat Jungle, The70sStation, 3WK, Top
RnB Hits, Trance-ilvania, Treasure Island Oldies, Truly Alternative,
Truly Cool Cool Jazz, TwangTownUSA, and Twangcast.
|
Ultimate-80s, UlyssesAudio, Unearthed, UpOnThat Radio, Village
Voice Radio, VirtualRadio.net, Vox Radium, Warped Communications,
WCLV-FM/Cleveland, WCRX-FM/Columbia College (Chicago), WCSB/Cleveland,
WCSN/Chicago, WDOA, WebRadioPugetSound, WebRock.net, WETD/Alfred
State College, WFMU/Jersey City, WGCX/Pensacola, WGEV/Geneva
College, WhereverRadio.com, WICB/Ithica College, Wizard Radio,
WLUP/Chicago, WMOC Radio, WMVY/Martha's Vineyard, WOLF FM, World
Intensity, World Music Webcast, WQXR/New York, WRIF/Detroit,
WSIA/Staten Island, WSNR/New York, WTXR/Toccoa Falls GA, WWZN/Boston,
XACTRadio, XIRadio.com, XTC Radio, X-tra Energy Dance, Xtreme
Internet Radio, Zero Art Radio, Zoetek World Radio, The Zoo
Radio, and Zydeco to the Bone.
|
Please note that this list includes most of the top Shoutcast
and Winamp Radio stations, plus many of the top iM Networks
stations.
|
 |
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.
|
|
|
| |
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
| |
|
Live
talk show now in progress
Many webcasters taking part in the today's "Mayday!"
event are simulcasting and/or participating in a twelve-hour
talk show hosted by webcaster Steve Wolf (picturted). Some of
the webcasters planning on carrying Wolf's "The Emergency
Webcasting System" program include 3WK.com, RadioIO.com,
ClevelandHits.com, WolfFM.com, Chronix Radio, ChoiceRadio.com,
Inetprogramming.com, Lvrocks.com, Ultimate 80s, Digitally Imported/Mostly
Classical, SOMA FM, Twangcast, TheDownbeat.org, and XIRadio.com.
(Full programming schedule here.)
Here's the toll-free call in line:
1-877-664-5265 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
RAIN and others contributing to the efforts to save Internet
radio are continuously adding to the stockpile of shared
resources for the use of webcasters and Internet radio listeners.
Lightningcast's service which allows those concerned to easily
fax their government representatives
is still available here.
There's also a new "400-word version" form letter to congresspeople
that webcasters and listeners can feel free to use at the Save Internet
Radio site (here).
Here's a new banner ad we particularly like. Please feel
free to "grab" it and put it on your site. Thanks goes
to Todd and Webrock.net.
We will continue to try to provide a centralized platform for these
shared resources at the SaveInternetRadio.org
site.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
