Licence fees are payable for every public performance - if a radio station (or restaurant, elevator etc.) plays recorded music then a few cents for each song is supposed to be paid to the appropriate performance rights organization: BMI, ASCAP, SOCAN. These agencies then distribute a portion of fees back to the recording artists. It's a lossy system - most of the money gets skimmed off - but at least the people who create the music get a little bit of the cash.

The new fees are not levied for the sake of the artists. These fees are specific to digital music, and do not apply to broadcast stations (even if broadcasting digitally). The digital performance fees apply fairly specifically to Internet radio and are collected by an agency called SoundExchange, which is essentially a group of lawyers fronting for the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).

These fees don't go to the artists: they go to the "copyright holder" which is almost always the recording label (Sony Columbia, Warner, EMI).

The labels are specifically targeting Internet radio - and, by extension, your legal right (in the USA) - to control and prevent digital transmission of any recorded material. The next step will be to disable any type of in-the-home digital transmission (using Sonos or any other media bridge) unless transaction fees are paid. This is the whole point of the HDCP "copy protection" in the HDMI interface - to limit where, when, how often (and eventually why, who and what) media gets played: it will all be licenced and fee payable.

Internet 2.0 indeed; American laws want to take us back fifty years and they will probably succeed.

I wonder how the publicly funded Canadian radio stations CBC and Espace Musique (two of my main feeds, SQ is better in packets then over the air) will react. The new fees appear to affect all Internet music streams terminating in the US, and even though low-volume "non-commercial" webcasters get a break any site with more than about 15k listeners per month will have to pay premium rates.

Another case of a politicians and lobbyists extending special-interest protection via legislation across international borders.

Got it. So this is an attempt to compensate the record companies for the revenues they claim they will lose as a result of people "recording" the songs played over the Internet rather than buying the music through some other channel.

Internet streaming radio seems like the least of their concerns -- downloading higher quality rips still seems like the real problem. I wouldn't have thought that your typical Internet radio had any higher effective sound quality than FM or satellite radio does today.

I think I understand the concerns now. This does suck. Thanks !!

So......
Being a big fan of Radio Pradise and Pandora,
what actions can I take to help??


Most of the music I buy is stuff I've been introduced to by RP or Pandora.

This story is still unfolding, but there is a lot of rage building. I don't have any brilliant insight into what can be done, but here's what www.saveourinternetradio.com
has to say:

Yikes! What can I do?

Independent webcasters are currently working together to come up with a strategy to save their stations and the industry they love. That may involve asking people to contact their members of Congress or other authorities, but it’s a bit early in the game for a coherent strategy to have gelled.

The best thing that concerned listeners can do at this point is to get the word out about what’s happening. If you see a post on here or elsewhere that resonates with you, Digg it. Partcipate in the ongoing discussions about this issue on Digg, Slashdot, radio station websites, and elsewhere.

If you are a member of the press, you may be uniquely qualified to help save the stations we all love. If you feel the same sense of outrage that the radio station operators and their listeners do, then please feel free to contact any of the posters here to get more background on what’s happening.

Petition

/signed

Thanks. I signed, too.

Thanks!
signed

Count me in.

As someone who used to work in "Non-Commercial" radio, this is an outrage.

Thanks for the heads up.

Petition signed.

WhatFurrer

I've just spent the last few hours on Radio Paradise message boards.
There are some really good suggestions on what can be done by us.

I would strongly suggest looking at or joining that forum/message board if you're the least bit concerned over this topic.


PLEASE TRY TO HELP!

I signed the petition too - I'm #1359.

Wow...I was number 501 about 4 hours ago.

i was 27xx im not sure the exact number. short term memory is not so....ahhh what was i typing?
Jake

#3206 just a minute ago.

3251

Signed.

I think I was 3236.

The story continues to build.

Silencing Internet Radio

Internet Radio has been sentenced to death. | Digital Copyright Canada

I'll Fight For You, Internet Radio

If I actually lived in the US (instead of just being effectively governed by its laws) I would write my congressperson and senator. As a Canadian. I feel somewhat powerless.

This is madness. The American First Amendment is supposed to protect free speech... but if corporations like Gannet and ClearChannel control all of the most powerful media outlets, then all other single voices are just trees falling in a forest without an audience.

I got this email from Pandora today:

Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,

I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.

I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

tim_signature.jpg
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

One appeal has failed already.

Capwiz isn't exactly a "petition"; it's an automated, web-based political mobilization tool (my verbiage, not theirs).

I'm splitting hairs, but I do think the distinction is important.

Elected officials are unlikely to see "beyond the trees" when they get hundreds or thousands of the exact same email.

I think that writing your representatives is good. I'm not clear about the value of using other people's tools and words to do so.

I also think petitions can be very valuable, if used strategically.

There is tons of information on Radio Paradises home page on what can be done to help.
PLEASE get involved if you listen to any interenet radio.

Being from Canada, today (May 16) Pandora is blocking me from their site...this totally sucks, I usually listen to them all day at work.

Geeze...what now? Back to somafm I guess!

I feel your pain. I am cut-off as well although right now I am listening to radioparadise.com as an alternative. The group at Pandora are very sympathetic about this issue and appear to be doing what they can legally to expand their streaming in North America. We'll have to wait to see what transpires.