Re: [ARSCLIST] Fw: WAMU 88.5 to Join Webcasters in "Day of Silence" June 26

[Bob Olhsson <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
>From Dismuke: "I have no problem with Internet radio stations paying
royalties.  That's not what this is about.  A rational
system of royalties is NOT one which will, from the
very get-go, bankrupt the entities which are supposed
to be paying the royalties.  The purpose of the new
royalty scheme as well as the scheme that the RIAA
backed last time around is to DESTROY Internet radio
and NOT to generate a viable stream of revenue from it
for copyright owners"

These new "royalties" are only a 6% increase in the CAP ON NEGOTIATED
ROYALTIES. They only come into play when the parties can't reach an
agreement and a webcaster wants to go ahead and play an artist's music
without an agreement.

NOBODY was paying the old cap rate and there's no reason to believe anybody
is likely to be paying the new cap, especially if, like you say, it would
bankrupt them. In many cases webcasters can get permission to pay no
royalties at all when it is to the promotional advantage of an artist. This
is a cloaked attempt by the Digital Media Association to impose government
price fixing on the royalties paid to the most popular, lowest common
denominator recording artists instead of allowing them to negotiate for a
fair share of the revenue that their recordings produce for the largest
webcasters.

File "sharing" has already destroyed financial investment in non-mainstream
artists. Any further erosion of the potential income for independent music
could totally eliminate it as an alternative to the music that Wall Street
and Madison Avenue see fit to feed us. By supporting this kind of corporate
welfare, small webcasters are really killing the goose that lays their
golden eggs. At one time we got to hear the best of the best in recording
artists. Today, in too many cases, we're hearing only the best of the
well-heeled because in the US most working class kids can no longer afford
to go out and perform music.

If you really like the new music you hear on commercial radio, by all means
fight for a lower royalty cap. Bankrupting independent new music is a sure
way to perpetuate lots more of the same.
	

Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com