Internet Radio Saved?
Wired's Listening Post Blog claims that internet radio has been "saved" (for now, anyway) and that SoundExchange executive director Jon Simson "promised -- in front of Congress -- that SoundExchange will not enforce the new royalty rates. Webcasters will stay online, as new rates are hammered out."
Tim Westergren told Listening Post: "It was getting pretty close. I always had underlying optimism that sanity was going to prevail, but I was beginning to wonder." He also said that everyone who contacted their Congressperson should feel that they had an effect on the process.
"This is a direct result of lobbying pressure, so if anyone thinks their call didn't matter, it did. That's why this is happening."No word on what the new rate will be or how it will be "hammered out," but this is at least a stay of execution and Pandora and other internet radio stations will not have to stop broadcasting this Sunday.
Online Radio Is Saved; SoundExchange Will Not Enforce New Royalty Rates on Sunday [Wired]
(Photo:supsauce?)
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Comments:
This strikes me as a bad precedent. The big labels through SoundExchange get to negotiate how much they receive from a statutory icense.
Yet it's still not as important as a baby on a plane. :(
Yet another plea not to be federally regulated. "We 'promise' to hold to a voluntary standard, so there is no need to regulate us." Yeah, right.
This is another case where congress should say, "If the voluntary standard is so good why don't we just pass it into law?" And then do it.
All SoundExchange has done here is give artists a bad rep and caused thousand to stop buying from artists who are members of the RIAA/SoundExchange. Now they will have to find a another way to screw the customer to make up the lost profits.
Do not support RIAA/SoundExchange - [www.riaaradar.com]
Tell Congress to force fair rates - [www.congress.org]
@ OGMAN, they aren't very creative. You cut off net radio, they'll go back to their suing-spree, and bankrupt a few more before they leave. I implore you, use independent music, and p2p any music that isn't non-RIAA.
All this means is they will still extract their pound of flesh.