Internet music royalties bill

[RedRock]

I got this email from my MacUser's group, but I didn't open it until 6/27 (today). It was about a "day of silence" to protest music royalties on internet radio music, that will begin July 15 retroactive to Jan 1 of this year (if I understand it correctly); this "day of silence" was yesterday, 6/26!

I use Live365 a lot, bought an annual subscription, even, last 2 years. I heard Rush talking about this a month or so ago, and how he doesn't put his parody songs on the internet commercials portion of his broadcasts, as each song costs him some $5,000 to play (I hope I heard and understood him right on that) as the royalty is based on the listening audience size.

Anyway, for your input and thoughts (I'm too tired tonight to do any research on it). It's not a hoax. The live365.com website confirmed it. www.live365.com/index.live

Online Internet Radio Goes Dark in a Day of Protest

It is quiet on the Internet today. Not as in "peace and quiet," with images
of relaxation and content. The quiet is the deafening kind that comes
crashing in when you've lost something important and might not get it back.
And that's exactly what may happen.

Today is the Day of Silence, a protest staged by the a long list of
prominent internet radio stations and online music services to give us all a
sample of what life could be like come July 15. That's the day when a set of
retroactive royalty rates kicks in and will effectively take much of the
online music you enjoy offline...permanently. If that happens, the music
you're not hearing today from Pandora, HardRadio, Smooth Jazz and More,
Live635.com, MTV Radio, and a whole host of others will become the norm,
since they won't be able to afford the initial hit from the royalties that,
under the legislation, have stacked up since January 1, nor the royalties
going forward.

If this matters to you, and it should, then you need to go to
SaveNetRadio.org to learn more, and find out how to contact your
Congressional representatives before this can't be stopped. You don't have
to sign up for anything or give an email address; just visit the site to
learn how to support the countering pieces of legislation, The Internet
Radio Equality Act, S. 1353 in the Senate and H.R. 2060 in the House. Your
phone call, email, fax or letter can drastically help.

Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora, was the guest on MacVoices #774,
talking about the situation, how it is unfairly penalizes online
broadcasters of music, and how to most effectively communicate your feelings
to your legislators. Listen, learn and act.

[Death's Shadow]

The more they restrict this the more people will want to do it. Before you know it there will be bootleg over seas internet radio, lol They will always be looking for new ways to glean a buck from the public.

[RedRock]

Well, I went ahead and cancelled my Live365 account, so there wouldn't be any credit card billing problems if they try to raise rates or go out of business but charge my card prematurely. My account, paid annually, is prepaid until March 08 and I'll keep using it for as long as it runs, but I can't get a refund.

[Lamron]

If internet radio is unavailable or too expensive, alot of people will switch to simply downloading songs illegally. Then the royalties received will be zero, instead of whatever they are now.

[Pvt._Michaels]

Gentlemen,
Help me understand the essence of the problem here.....

Are you saying that Net radio must pay more than other outlets...?
Is that because the product is more easily stolen than from, say,
satellite, or AM Radio, or FM? Then I understand the motivation.
I'm not a music download
person, but I believe artists need to be paid. If you remove the incentive that
some artist might "hit the big time" ... then you remove much of the
passion and motivation behind the creative process.
Maybe I'm just not getting the beef....

All the best
Pv. Michaels

[RedRock]

privatemichaels said:

Gentlemen,
Help me understand the essence of the problem here..........

Read this story, for example, for a better understanding of the impact on net radio and its cheap listeners (me, for example). And it's retroactive back to Jan. 06, not 07 !!! Here are some snippets:

Today's protest comes after a decision in March by the Copyright Royalty Board, which ruled that starting July 15, Internet radio stations will be charged based on the number of their listeners. Previously, the stations paid a percentage of their revenue. Internet radio providers are governed by different rules than radio stations, which don't have to pay performing artists when they play their songs.

"For us, the royalties went from $20,000 to $600,000 per year," said Rusty Hodge, whose 11-channel SomaFM Web site was launched in 2000 and operates in San Francisco's Mission District. "That's about three times the total income we made in 2006. We're not getting rich off of this."

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/06/26/MNGMDQLP6G1.DTL

I don't understand all of this to any great deal, and of course each side in such an argument puts its best arguments forward while downplaying the other side's, but I do understand that my costs will go up and my choices of listening way down, for internet radio, if this does take effect. What are Musicians gonna do if they don't get this (extra) income? Stop being musical? Move to the UK? Hardly--they all move here from the UK once they make it big, anyway, because our system and our country is still the best place in the world for freedom and music and making money from music.

But I put this up here to see if anyone else had more info or another take, other than starving-artist appeals.