This rather long winded diary reminds us of the fact that the Corporatists will never stop. Freedom, innovation- they mean nothing to those who would charge you for the air you breathe if they could get away with it. This is a “done deal” but so far, my favorite stations are still up. I hope that this won’t change. The important point: Bush doesn’t always need a majority in Congress to rape and pillage the heritage and freedom of the American people. You can scroll down to the bottom of the diary for action alerts.
The Copyright Royalty Board has, in their infinite wisdom, increased the per song fees that internet radio stations, like Radio Paradise, must pay to the record companies. Of course, FM radio stations don’t pay a dime:How is it possible for such a massive disparity to exist? For the answer to that we need to go back to the 1990s, when music industry lobbyists persuaded Congress to include wording in two pieces of legislation (the Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998) that drew a sharp division between analog and digital broadcasts. Their reasoning was that a digital radio transmission was not a radio broadcast at all, but a sequence of perfect digital copies of music performances provided to the user, who could then copy them rather than paying to own a CD.
This is nothing short of insane, there is no practical difference between streaming and over the air radio. Perhaps congress in the 90s was not aware that the internet is, in fact, not a big truck.
More from Bill and Rebecca Goldsmith, owners/operators of Radio Paradise:
We are hoping that we can, along with a small group of other independent webcasters, negotiate a separate settlement with the RIAA, similar to the one we negotiated in 2002. That agreement allowed us to operate by paying a royalty equal to 10% - 12% of our gross income in performance royalties. That has been enough of a burden for a struggling “mom & pop” operation like ours, but it has allowed us to survive since that point. However, that agreement has expired, and we are now liable for royalties, retroactive to the beginning of 2006, that are equal to aproximately 125% of our income.
The Radio and Internet Newsletter has a breakdown:
2006 - $.0008 per performance
2007 - $.0011 per performance
2008 - $.0014 per performance
2009 - $.0018 per performance
2010 - $.0019 per performanceA “performance” is defined as the streaming of one song to one listener; thus a station that has an average audience of 500 listeners racks up 500 “performances” for each song it plays.
Holy crap my head just exploded. How can our laws legislate that Clear Channel get to play the same 50 crappy songs over and over again for free while a station playing a real diverse set of music is nickel-and-dimed out of existence?
Readers of this diary have pointed out that traditional radio stations do indeed pay, but the point is that they don’t pay fees that exceed their income, not by a long shot.
I guess I can take hope in the fact that there are internet radio stations from other countries that will go on playing interesting and independent music, and I can stream them.
But I swear, we get closer to living in a Soviet-style totalitarian state every day the Republican are allowed to make law and policy.
Front page
I copy streamed music
Three unrelated paragraphs:
Years ago, I taped “Album Review” on the local radio station, where they’d play a whole album without interruption. I got Back in Black that way and nearly wore the darn tape out playing it. I guess AC/DC saw some of my money later when they came to play my town, but I never bought the album.
More recently, I have done exactly what the law writers claimed was their concern; made digital copies of digital music streamed to me via internet radio. There are several free or nearly free apps that do this. Google streamripper. I have obtained hours of drum and bass music this way.
I view this thing as yet another instance of capital versus labor. Those who own the copyright want to be paid for owning it, like any investor, and they are trying to maximise the return on that investment.
as is noted in the diary
it’s not the artists who are hurt, it’s the investor-class corporate execs. they can fuck themselves. if and when there is a way to pay artists directly for their music, i’m game. but i know plenty of musicians, and few of them are rich. yet somehow, their agents and record company contacts, those who produce nothing of actual value, are doing really well.
as i said, i’ll stream from overseas if they shut it down here. thanks for the tip about googlestreamer.
Royalties
As an operator of a radio station, the second biggest expense I have after salaries is Royalties to the Music industry. Now the new rates want us to pay again for broadcasting the same thing on the internet. 45% of the fee is to be paid to the performer. It is the cost to play. Now i have to decide if it is worthwhile business venture.