The Death Of Internet Radio??

[Elmer]

About 6 monthe ago, I found a neat internet radio station (thru a link from this forum) which plays only comtemporary classical music- in fact that's it's name: Contemporary Classical Internet Radio. http://contemporary-classical.com/bartok.jsp

Well, it's seems we are about to loss it! It has been decided by government committees to raise the royalty payments required to performers and copyright owners of the recordings (meaning the record companies) by as much as 1,200 per cent for small broadcasters. This is not the composer/writer/arranger royalties that are paid thru ASCAP and BMI, this is royalities which are supposed to be split by the performers and the copyright owners of the recoding, meaning the label, as I said above. Internet radio in the United States is required to pay both the composer royalities and the performer royalities. Regular radio stations pay only the composer royalties, because it is assumed that they give exposure to artists and thereby increase sales of the recordings. Why internet stations have to be burderned with these costs and not regular stations is beyond me, because most internet stations are small niche stations run by hobbists, which give a specific type of music exposure which it would never get on any other stations- contemporary classical, for example, but there are many, many other genres- old-time country music, specific types of jazz, etc. Anyway, these new rates are going into effect July 15, 2007, and according to one estimate 80 per-cent of all internet stations in the U.S. will have to shut down.

The Internet Radio Equality Act now being considered in the U. S. Congress would make the fees much more reasonable, and continue the payments to the performers as well. Here is a copy of a letter I've e-mailed to members of Congress who represent my area:

I am urging you to support the Internet Radio Equality Act (H.R. 2060 or S.1353) QUICKLY to insure that the small-niche stations of internet radio can continue to broadcast. I listen to one station which plays nothing but classical music written in the 20th and 21st centuries, so you can guess NO large commercial station is ever going to air this stuff!

The new proposed rates would not only raise broadcasters’ royalty payments 300 to 1200 per cent, but would also be retroactive from 2006. (Imagine if Congress passed a new tax law that was as steep a raise as that AND RETROACTIVE!! AND DUE JULY 15, 2007!!) Small broadcasters who are in it for a hobby, like my favorite station, are going to have to mortgage houses or declare bankruptcy!

When many stations go off the air, it will mean LESS royalty payments to the artists! I believe that within just a year or two, if it is allowed to go into effect, that the prohibitive actions of the Copyright Royalty Board and SoundExchange will be compared to the Catholic Church’s treatment of Galileo: in their misunderstanding and haste, they are going to kill the golden-egg-laying goose. I believe even those musicians who spoke supporting the new rates, including the president of the American Federation of Musicians, will see their mistake VERY SOON if these rates go into effect, and the royalties they receive now ACTUALLY DECREASE!

Thank you for your attention to these important bills.

Elmer

[Ron Ofir]

Wish I could help, but I'm not from the US I hope you manage to stop this tax, though!

[reith]

It's getting the same in the UK - that stupid business: if two or more musicians gather, no matter in the street, the park, a venue etc, they are a group and will have to obtain a license. The world is full of stupid people (the least polite terms I can use here) - is it any wonder society is falling apart? The people behind all this haven't got proper jobs so once they can get something like this fixed in law, they can laze about 'being important'.

I get amazed with humanity at times. Increasingly, people know less which end of the telescope to look through.

[chckn8r]

Yeah, I've been hearing about this for a couple of months - the tech and recording podcast community has been keeping close tabs and reporting on it regularly.

Most of the folks in management at record companies and these performance rights organizations are either no talent hacks who couldn't make it in the business or folks with even less talent who want to take advantage of someone else's ticket. Their official story is that they're doing it in the artists' interest, and neglect to see Internet radio as perfect marketing tool rather than a profit center.

D

[MidiWorld]

Corruption and incompetence. That's Washington today.
It would be bad enough to raise anything by 1200 percent, but it's criminal to make it retroactive.
I would call or write my senator, but she's busy trying to grab the presidency, so she's useless.