Re: [ARSCLIST] Urgent Message From SaveNetRadio

[Dismuke <dismukemail@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- seva <seva@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> obvious to me: i don't hear artists complaining one
> bit about getting 
> more royalties.
> 


Why would they complain about getting more royalties? 
What person in his right mind wouldn't like a pay
raise and what business in its right mind wouldn't
like being able to charge higher prices?  I, for one,
would LOVE to have more money coming in. 

But as a flyer that was circulating around Capitol
Hill yesterday very accuratelty stated: "Dead
webcasters pay no royalties."

And as far as SoundExchange royalties are concerned,
according to SoundExchnage's own numbers the average
royalty payment last year was somewhere along the
lines of $350 (I forget the exact number but it is
somewhere between $300 and $400 and can be found
somewhere on the SoundExchange website, I am sure). 
Keep in mind that this figure is an AVERAGE - which
means it includes royalties paid out to hit selling
RIAA recording artists who have lots and lots of FM
airplay.  And that handful of artists are likely to
get LOTS of airplay and, thus, a much higher royalty
payments.  If you take those handful of mega hit
artists out of the equation, you will find that the
average royalty payment for more typical artists will
be actually be somewhat LESS than that approx. $350
range - and my guess is it would be CONSIDERABLY less.
 Don't know for sure, however, as SoundExchange will
not release such figures.

So the reality of royalties under the old rates is the
average artists received something less than $35 per
month in royalties.  That doesn't buy you a whole lot.
 That is hardly going to make much of an impact at all
on a typical artist's career - though I am sure most
are certainly glad to have it.

The question with regard to royalties for a artists is
whether such a pittance is worth giving up an
enormously valuable medium with which to connect with
fans and find new fans.  How many CDs have independent
artists sold as a result of Internet airplay?  If you
read what artists write, it is a major driver of sales
for those who are not distributed by the RIAA labels
in places such as Wal-mart.  How may artists have been
able to get new live performance opportunties as a
result of the exposure that they have received on
Internet radio?   All of that is what will be
destroyed if SoundExchange gets its way and, on top of
that, THERE WILL BE NO ROYALTIES because the only
webcasters that will still be on the air will be
illegal pirates or large companies with deep pockets
who have signed sweetheart deals with the RIAA labels
in exchange for having FM radio type formats.   In
reality the choice isn't royalties verses promotional
opportunities.  Unless an artist has an RIAA label
recording contract and the label is actively engaged
in heavily promoting them via FM airplay, without
independent Internet radio stations artists will be
back to exactly where they were a decade ago:  NO
performance royatlies AT ALL and  ZERO promotional
opportunties via airplay outside whatever mass market
FM exposure they can drum up, which is a very
difficult thing for most artists to do.   Again, the
flyer from yesterday said it all:  Dead webcasters pay
no royalties.