WEBSTER: PANDORA IS “CANARY IN THE COAL MINE” FOR TERRESTRIAL BROADCASTERS TOO: Vice President of Edison Media Research Tom Webster urges traditional radio broadcasters not to be passive bystanders to the webcaster royalty debacle. “Where are your businesses headed right now? Hopefully to the Internet. That makes you an Internet broadcaster, and that puts you squarely in the same mine that might just claim Pandora and a host of other online-only properties,” he writes. “If they can’t solve this, all broadcasters in the online music space are going to start suffocating.” Read his full article at The Infinite Dial here.

WILHELMS SUGGESTS LABELS COULD OFFER ROYALTY RELIEF FOR EQUITY, A LA ON-DEMAND DEALS: Reactions to Pandora’s “pull-the-plug” announcement continue, this time from artist representative Fred Wilhelms who sees SoundExchange’s attack on Internet radio as an attack on artists as well. He writes, “Closing down millions of places to hear music is always in the best interests of artists and listeners, right? In what alternate universe does this make any sense?” The death of Pandora may mean fewer innovative ideas in the future as well, Wilhelms reasons, as financial backing shifts away. “But that’s fine with SoundExchange. The fewer independent players on the field, the more the RIAA gets to control what gets played and what we get to hear.” Wilhelms also predicts a possible outcome in which SoundExchange offer webcasters a discounted royalty rate in exchange for equity. “That way the labels not only get to control the playlists (because only their artists will be available), they get to share in the service’s revenue going forward…It’s like printing their own money, and it’s all legal.” Such an agreement would be similar to deals cut between record labels and on-demand services, such as Warner Brothers’ investment in Imeem and LaLa. Read his full article at P2PNet News here.

ARTIST TO RIAA: STOP TRYING TO “KILL MY CAREER IN THE NAME OF ‘REPRESENTING’ ME”: Singer/songwriter Levi Weaver has written two open letters, one to Pandora, the other to the RIAA. To the RIAA he pens, “Congratulations. You’ve taken one more step in choking the industry that pays your bills…When you look around and see that despite all your efforts to ‘save’ the music industry have totally destroyed it, I hope, nay wish, that I am in the room to see your bankruptcy papers signed.” He continues, “I didn’t ask you to take any of the steps you’ve taken to try to kill my career in the name of ‘representing’ me…Pandora has been a tool of such great help that a value cannot be put on it. And your complete and total incapability to recognize anything that was not a source of income in your college professor’s ‘Industry’ will kill you.” To Pandora: “Thanks for making my music available to people. And not just any people, but people who would like it. You hired a crack team of music-analysts…and I reaped the benefits, by way of a few CD sales, and a few new fans.” Read both of his letters here.

WIDESPREAD IN-CAR INTERNET RADIO WON’T COME FROM CHRYSLER WI-FI, BUT FROM WIMAX: Wired’s Keith Barry points out that Chrysler’s EVDO-based Wi-Fi service, which is available starting Monday, won’t put Internet radio at a level playing field with satellite and broadcast radio. Rather, the service is a “Trojan horse that portends the coming of viable mobile WiMAX…[which] could make in-car internet access commonplace, kill satellite radio and drastically change navigation. And it could happen as soon as 2012.” Once the high-speed WiMax is in place, Barry writes, the plethora of Internet radio programming choices plus “the expense of maintaining satellites and the virtual nonexistence of satellite radio outside of the United States means that third-party developers would much rather base their in-car media systems around an existing, low-maintenance, worldwide internet platform.” Read his full article here.

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