 RAIN 3/16: Obama supports broadcast radio performance royalty ·Mar 16, 11:26 AM WHITE HOUSE ALSO RECOMMENDS FELONY CHARGES FOR ILLEGAL NET STREAMINGThe White House on Tuesday voiced its support for an AM/FM performance royalty. The recommendation came from White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel.
The NAB responded that such a royalty would be a “jobs-killing fee on America’s hometown radio stations.” It also pointed out, reports Tom Taylor in his Radio-Info newsletter (subscribe here), that the White House has supported a broadcast radio performance royalty “for a while now.” Taylor reports that there “apparently aren’t any active talks between the NAB and MusicFirst.” In October 2010 the NAB published a proposed performance royalty settlement (RAIN coverage here) which The White House on Tuesday also recommended that illegal streaming of any content online be counted as a felony. Espinel stated, “The Administration recommends that Congress clarify that infringement by streaming, or by means of other similar new technology, is a felony in appropriate circumstances.” Digital Music News has more coverage here. You can also find the White House’s white paper on the matter here (PDF). You can also find more analysis on the White House’s recommendations from Declan McCullagh in CNet here. BUBBA THE LOVE SPONGE SUBSCRIPTIONS REPORTEDLY EARN NEARLY $1 MILLIONRBR reports that subscriptions to Bubba the Love Sponge’s Early Enlistment Program at RadioIO have generated nearly $1 million in revenue. In February, RadioIO offered a one-year subscription for $300 (cut from the regular rate of $467.64). At that price, RadioIO would need over 3,300 subscribers to reach $1 million.
Interestingly, RBR also reports that early subscribers also earned 100 shares of restricted stock in IO World Media. Bubba the Love Sponge jumped from Sirius XM to webcaster RadioIO at the beginning of 2011 (RAIN coverage here and here). JACOBS HIRES DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGISTMedia consulting firm Jacobs Media has brought on Lori Lewis in the newly-created capacity of Digital & Social Media Strategist. She will work with Jacobs clients to develop new media and social networking strategies.
Lewis is a former Bubba the Love Sponge sidekick, and was once Radio & Records Program Director of the Year as PD at WSMJ/Baltimore. Most recently, Lewis was Multimedia Content Manager at Midwest Communications. SAN JOSE’S ALTERNATIVE KSJO GOES ONLINE-ONLYAll Access reports that San Jose’s KSJO alternative programming is going online-only as the station itself re-formats with ethnic programming. The new online service is called Save Alternative (or SALT) and can be found here. All Access has more on the story here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
CommentCommenting is closed for this article.  Other stories RAIN has upgraded (and moved)! RAIN 9/13: RAIN Summit Chicago takes place today! RAIN 9/12: First Summit in RAIN's hometown takes place tomorrow RAIN 9/9: Summer holidays, "doldrums" impact July Webcast Metrics, but audience up over last year RAIN 9/8: Clear Channel launches new customizable iHeartRadio beta; RAIN goes hands-on RAIN 9/7: Meet more speakers you'll hear at RAIN Summit Chicago in less than a week RAIN 9/6: Clear Channel taps The Echo Nest to take on Pandora RAIN 9/2: RAIN reviews Spotify's radio-like product Artist Radio RAIN 9/1: UK online radio aggregator Radioplayer campaigns b'dcasters to create "all radio" ratings RAIN 8/31: Execs from Merlin, Triton Digital, jacAPPS and more to appear at RAIN Summit Chicago |
included provisions about FM receivers in cellphones and webcasting royalties. It received an icy reception from 
