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BY PAUL MALONEY
Webcasters may have found their first high-profile
ally among artists in their struggle against the sound
recording
royalty rates.
Techno/electronica star Moby,
whose music has been released in the U.S. by recording labels V2,
Elektra, and Instinct, expressed his support of Internet radio and
his anger towards the RIAA for trying to shut it down.
The comments appear in the musician's online journal from
July 22. Moby posts his journal on his website here.
Referring to the CARP panel recommendation and subsequent
determination by the Librarian of Congress on the rates, Moby writes,
"I would like to lend my support to the cause of repealing
this unnecessary and ass-backwards
piece of legislation."
"What does the RIAA hope to accomplish by forcing hundreds
of wonderful Internet radio stations to shut down?" he wonders.
"And why is the RIAA even involved in the world of Internet-radio?..For
the life of me I can't see any wisdom or justification in passing
an arbitrary law that will only serve to shut down a lot of really
cool and vital Internet radio stations."
Moby (left), recognizing the promotional power webcasters
offer for music under-served by what he calls "conservative,"
"bland," and "homogenous" commercial broadcasters,
says Net radio's role is "vital" in exposing "new
and unconventional music."
The RIAA has often characterized their efforts to collect
royalties from webcasters as being in the interest of the artists
(the DMCA requires that the royalties, after SoundExchange administration
costs, be split 50-50 between copyright owners -- most often the
labels -- and artists).
Yet artists' displeasure with the recording industry -- from
alleged underpayment of royalties to one-sided contracts that artists
say hold them in "indentured servitude" to their recording
companies -- is well-documented.
Given this, some webcasters had hoped to gain sympathy from artists
for whom Internet play may be their best promotion.
And while there has been some show of support from artists
for music on the Internet in general (most notably from Janis
Ian here
and here),
webcasters had yet to find a high-profile artist willing to stand
up for Internet radio specifically.
Moby closes the journal entry with an entertaining (and insightful)
quote from Broadcast.com founder and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark
Cuban (right): "There is no law against an industry being
stupid and killing off their customer base
as the music industry is doing. The vast majority of (Internet radio)
stations will either shut down or move to Canada or overseas."
RAIN was still awaiting comment from Moby or his management
for this article at press time.
Special thanks to RAIN reader and Moby fan
James Hughes of
Esponsive Communications for the tip.
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From the New York Times: "The executives assuming
control of the struggling America Online Internet
service are reviving a strategy the company abandoned five years
ago, emphasizing the creation of original,
exclusive content, said people who have discussed the
matter with AOL's new chairman, Jonathan F. Miller...
"Mr. Miller [pictured left] declined to comment on his plans.
AOL Time Warner executives said many of the details remained to
be worked out. But Mr. Miller has told friends that he believes
that AOL's executives, who are rooted in the Internet, have underestimated
the power of more
elaborate high-speed audio and visual programming
to entertain consumers and motivate them to spend...
"AOL executives say one model for their new approach
is the AOL music channel, which
provides 20-minute video segments of original
performances, by artists like the Red
Hot Chili Peppers. Laced
through the music
service
are opportunities to buy CD's, sheet music and T-shirts...
"'We are terrific aggregators of content that is produced
by others,' said Lisa A. Hook, the president of AOL's broadband
unit. 'People say that broadband is about streaming video. But if
people want streaming video, they will sit down and turn on the
TV set.' Instead, she said AOL hoped to bring together new sorts
of programming, much of it drawn from other AOL Time Warner divisions,
that use music and video but also take advantage of the interactive
nature of the Internet."
Read this entire article in today's New York Times,
or online here.
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From an AP story in USA Today: "The US recording
industry has dropped efforts to compel four Internet service providers
to block a Chinese Web site accused of distributing pirated music.
"Thirteen record companies had filed a lawsuit Friday
[see RAIN coverage here]
after failing to persuade the site, Listen4ever.com, to shut down
on its own.
"But in a surprise move, the companies dropped the
lawsuit Wednesday, saying the site is now offline...
"Critics had complained that the RIAA
was setting a potentially dangerous precedent by trying to force
the Internet carriers to function as the copyright police, a right
it had under an untested
provision of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act...
"Meanwhile, the RIAA is suing Verizon
Communications' Internet unit seeking to identify a customer
who is allegedly running a computer 'that is a hub for significant
music piracy.' Tuesday's lawsuit in US District Court in Washington,
D.C., seeks enforcement of a July 24 subpoena to Verizon."
Read this entire article in today's USA Today, or
online here.
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Thanks
to all the fine companies
who agreed to be part of our recent "RAIN
Vendor Guide (Ver. 2.0)" issue. You
can see the entire Guide here.
To be part of RAIN's Vendor Guide, please call
312-527-3879. ( "Streaming audio software"
will be our next featured category.)
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| Software |
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STRATA
Marketing, Inc.
STRATA develops premier software for the media industry.
Do you want a faster, more powerful way to present your
station’s reach to potential advertisers? Would you
like your software to combine ratings analysis with word
processing, desktop publishing and graphic capabilities?
It’s all here in STRATA Radio! STRATA Radio is designed
specifically to help radio stations promote their advantage
over other media! |
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| Streaming
audio formats |
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RealNetworks
RealNetworks, Inc. is the global
leader in Internet media delivery. It develops and markets
software products and services designed to enable users
of personal computers and other consumer electronic devices
to send and receive audio, video and other multimedia
services using the Web. |
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Windows
Media
Microsoft® Windows Media™
is the platform of choice for broadcasters delivering
live or on-demand audio and video over the Internet.
Over 3,000 radio and television broadcast stations currently
use Windows Media for its high quality audio and video
and integrated digital rights management.
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From the column by Joel Selvin in the San Francisco Chronicle:
"The record industry may have more to fear from Jimmy
Buffett than the Internet.
Buffett picked up his marbles and walked away from the game last
year -- putting out an album on his own Mailboat
Records that sold more than a half million copies and hit
the top five. Now he's inviting others to join him, sharing proceeds
like a pirate splitting up spoils instead of paying measly royalties...
"Buffett pays $5 per record, four
times the $1.25 he earned with Universal Music. Other
big-name artists are ready to join Buffett's flight from the major
labels...
"The Internet proved that alternative
supply lines could get music directly to consumers, outside
of traditional avenues of the marketplace.
"What's stopping acts from putting out their
own records? Amazon.com
pays more than $7 apiece wholesale for
CDs and sends monthly statements. Record labels work hard to pay
artists as little as possible, subtracting all kinds of ridiculous
expenses from royalty accounts."
Read Selvin's entire column from the San Francisco Chronicle
here.
Public stations
now off line
This is from the SOS:
Save Our Streams website, which focuses the struggle
against thewebcasting royalty rates as they pertain to independent
educational and noncommercial stations. |
| KTAI-TX; KNHC-WA; KAPU-CA; WMUA-MA; WEBR-VA; WDCE-VA; KWJC-MO;
WERS-MA; KTSW-TX; WSUM-WI; WSTB-OH; WONB-OH; WXOU-MI; WZIP-OH;
WUTK-TN; KETR-TX; WRMC-VT; KSDS-CA; WNYU-NY; WSUW-WI; WEVL-TN;
KRCL-UT; WSRN-PA; KXCI-AZ; WUVT-VA; WPTS-PA; KBCS-WA; WMHW-MI;
KBVR-OR; KXRJ-AR; WDWN-NY |
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