The RIAA has a new “freeloader” in its sights, traditional radio stations. According to the LA Times, the RIAA is going after the federal exemption that allows broadcasters to avoid paying performance royalties to record labels and performers because radio play sells records.
“The creation of music is suffering because of declining sales,” said RIAA Chief Executive Mitch Bainwol. “We clearly have a more difficult time tolerating gaps in revenues that should be there.”
The National Association of Broadcasters responds,
“The existing system actually provides the epitome of fairness for all parties: free music for free promotion,” wrote NAB President David Rehr.
Our friend Howard Berman (D-California) unsurprisingly supports removing the exemption, “Given the many different ways to promote music now that didn’t exist as effectively when this original exemption was made,” he said, “the logic of that I think is more dubious.” —MEGHANN MARCO
Artists and labels seek royalties from radio [LA Times]
(Photo: Mickey G Ottawa)
More From Consumerist
-
Who Is Really Making Money When We Don’t Buy The Music We Listen To?
-
Best Buy Needs Your Personal Info To Sell An XM Radio Receiver, Can’t Tell You Why
-
TGI Friday’s Has A Very High Opinion Of Their Waitstaff
-
Woman On The Hook For $220K In Online Music Sharing Saga After Losing Appeal In Third Trial
-
Record Companies Reportedly Hiring Students To Snitch On Their Peers
Having greasemonkey on is making the comments disappear in this post for me. It didn’t happen in the others. Is this happening to anyone else?
These are the kind of statements that make my teeth want to reach around and eat my brain.
It’s not like the creation of music has EVER been a lucrative career choice, yet humans have been creating music for thousands upon thousands of years. I don’t think the failure of the RIAA is going to cause all of humanity to just give up on music once and for all.
The fact that the head honcho of the RIAA would make such a statement illustrates just how far the RIAA’s head has gone up its ass. They have lost touch with the consumers and the artists they claim to represent. It’s nothing more now than a giant headless blunder.
Traditional radio promotes music to more traditional people, right? Sure, there are other ways to promote music like blogs, iTunes, etc. But the people hearing music that way are more likely to obtain it in non-traditional ways or even illegally. Not by purchasing an album.
I would think people like my parents who listen to traditional radio and are influenced that way are more likely to go to the store and buy a physical copy of the album, which is what the RIAA seems to want.
That was a lot of sentences to say that the RIAA is stupid. Which you all already knew.
So now RADIO is killing CD sales?
You know, I purchase dozens of CDs every year, but the more these RIAA guys open their mouths, the more I want to go out and pirate music, just for the hell of it.
I only have three words for this.
Money. Grabbing. Bastards.
They’re worse than the 20 year old girlfriends of rich old men for christ sake.
Are they going to ban live performances of people’s own music next?
I get so fuming fucking mad at this shit.
did anybody actually read this article ?
all that’s really happening is that the playing field is finally leveling out for satellite, cable and internet radio.
traditional radio needs to pay a little, thereby allowing internet radio to not be hammered by the ridiculous “adjusted royalty rate”
that the royalty board is trying to impose.
even the riaa isn’t so dumb as to dismantle “radio”. it’s just a little more here, and a little less here. cookin’ the books, financial slight of hand and you’re still not making the money if you sign a record contract.
“the riaa is dead, long live the riaa” or in other words…
“meet the new boss, same as the old boss “
Money-grubbing, bottom-feeding bastards.
How ironic that in the end it’s not going to be video that kills the radio star, but the RIAA itself.
“Given the many different ways to promote music now that didn’t exist as effectively when this original exemption was made,” he said, “the logic of that I think is more dubious.”
That would be a quasi-legitimate complaint… If the RIAA wasn’t trying to destroy all of the OTHER ways to promote music as well. So how much money did RIAA donate to Howard Berman’s campaign fund anyway?
Also, this statement:
“We clearly have a more difficult time tolerating gaps in revenues that should be there.”
Me thinks that isn’t a deliberate move to cripple radio or recover potential income, but just a bit of polical theater; making a statement that “It’s YOUR FAULT THAT WE HAVE TO RESORT TO THIS! WE WOULDN’T HAVE TO SHAKEDOWN YOUR RADIO STATIONS IF YOU WOULD STEAL OUR MUSIC!”
I, like the rest of the free world, remain unconvinced by that statement.
I’ve been wondering for the last 10 years when the record industry would pass out of existance. Can’t happen soon enough. There probably needs to be an evil association that represents artists to counteract the RIAA, which is nothing more than an evil association which represents the record companies.
There was a recent article in Electronic Musician Magazine about how intellectual property laws and copy protection are hurting musicians. Charging royalties for radio play is just one more thing that is going to hurt the average artist, particularly if indie stations go under.
I haven’t bought a CD in quite a while. But I can’t imagine that the $20 average price of a CD is helping sales much. Who would pay that much for music they have never heard — by artists they’ve never heard of?
I would love to see the NAB hit back hard on this, and tell the RIAA that, should this come to pass, they intend to start charging the labels the appropriate standard :30 or :60 airtime rates, in however many increments necessary per song, for each cut that gets played on each station. If they want their music played, they can pay for it like any other advertisers on the stations. I think the RIAA would lose that little war of attrition right quick.
[quote]How ironic that in the end it’s not going to be video that kills the radio star, but the RIAA itself.[/quote]
Great stuff!
There’s very likely more non-RIAA music out there than there is RIAA music out there now. This is probably the single reason RIAA and large corporate labels are dying. As independant artists, large labels are no longer necessary. You can create your own music and publish it yourself through CDBaby and other distributors who will place it on iTunes, Rhapsody and other large outlets. No longer is it necessary to tie your music to Sony, BMG, Universal, or other members of the RIAA.
The only thing this royalty payment change will accomplish is one of two things.. 1) RIAA owned or semi-owned stations will only play RIAA music. 2) Non-RIAA affiliated stations will play non-RIAA music. As the RIAA stations dry up from lack of listenership.. this will, as other people have said, effectively drive the last nail into the RIAA’s coffin. Bye Bye RIAA… don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
Check out this article from The Onion from October 2002!
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/27696
Hilariously ridiculous!