From Wired.com's Listening Post blog: "In what seems to be becoming a trend, Last.FM has come under fire for forcing artists and labels who upload their music to the site to relinquish all royalties for internet radio and on-demand playback. 

"The license lasts for at least a year, after which the artist can terminate it, but still, it's unfortunate that indie artists and labels that upload their music to Last.FM don't get paid...

"The clause in question:

"A post on Last.FM's blog indicates that, somehow, the 'royalty-free license' referred to above does not really mean that the license is royalty-free.  Last.FM apparently means that it will pay royalties to SoundExchange, but can't pay small labels or artists directly (the way it will the big labels), due to administrative costs. The post advises small bands and labels to join an indie aggregator or collection society if they want to collect the royalties owed them under the 'royalty-free license.'  Hmmm."

Read the entire post the Listening Post blog.

...

x As commentors at the Listening Post blog have pointed out, something here stinks. If Last.fm pays SoundExchange royalties for the non-major label product the company streams, why should paying indie artists directly even be an issue? Could Last.fm mean that, since it has direct deals with 3 of the Big 4 labels, it simply won't play artists who don't agree to their "royalty-free licence" terms? -- DM x

From today's Wall Street Journal: "Even President Bush's toughest critics would forgive him his confusion when, at a forum in Nashville, Tenn., last week, he was asked if he would support the payment of 'a statutory royalty to the performing artists for radio and television airplay,' in the process,'changing our laws to align with the rest of the world.'

"'Help!' the president gulped, to abundant laughter. 'I have no earthly idea what you're talking about,'...

"As music has spilled out onto the Web, so have disagreements about how to license it. The latest of what may be many such disputes took place last month, when an estimated 30,000 Internet radio stations held a 'day of silence.' They were protesting new royalty rates proposed by the Copyright Review Board, a panel of three judges charged by Congress with settling on rates that would be fair to both sides...

"The more immediate prospective change involves the issue with which Mr. Bush was confronted. It involves whether record labels and performers should be paid a royalty whenever their songs are aired on the radio...

"The broadcasters have justified the exemption by saying radio play increases sales. Labels and musicians respond that the Internet is changing all of the old rules about the economic realities of music, and they have begun a push to abolish the exemption. The question to President Bush was part of the new PR offensive...

"The best any music fan can do as future disputes crop up — and they will — is to keep score of who is negotiating with whom and over what, and hope for the best."

Subscribers can read the entire article at the Wall Street Journal online.

...

x The author's closing line is unduly cynical in light of the progress made by the campaign to save Internet radio. What about the hundreds of thousands of phone calls, e-mails and letters sent by listeners to their representatives in Washington D.C. over webcasting royalties? We've heard time and again that listener outcry has been taken very seriously by lawmakers. It's one of the major reasons the SaveNetRadio campaign has been so effective. You could also argue that all of the attention paid to webcast royalties in the press has made listeners more aware, and hopefully in the future, more vigilant about attacks by the entertainment industry against new media. -- DM x

Saga Communications Inc. announced today that the broadcaster will utilize Ando Media's Internet advertising management and measurement systems for all of its owned and operated radio stations.

Through the use of Ando Media's suite of services, Saga will have access to actual audience metrics for all of its internet radio stations as well as being able to set up advertising campaigns and report on its impression delivery in real-time.

"We are excited to be utilizing the tools for Internet radio provided by Ando Media. Their audience measurement and ad insertion systems have become the standard in the Internet radio industry" stated Warren Lada, Senior VP Operations at Saga Communications.

Advertisement