 RAIN 9/29: Webcasting bill passes unanimously in House, moves to Senate ·Sep 29, 06:11 AM In this morning’s issue of RAIN, we’ll look at the weekend’s news from Capitol Hill, including a last-minute meeting between Congressman Howard Berman and NAB lobbyists and actions by Pandora and NPR, plus speculation from various industry observers about what’s next. Look for more updates throughout the day. — KH NAB ACCEPTS INSLEE AND BERMAN’S COMPROMISE, DROPS OPPOSITION TO BILLThe “Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008,” a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress on Thursday permitting negotiated settlements between SoundExchange and webcasters (if any are reached) to have the force of law, passed unanimously in the House on Saturday evening and is expected to pass in the Senate today.
(RAIN Analysis: The bill is necessary to the survival of Internet radio because, under existing copyright law, SoundExchange is not authorized to negotiate on behalf of non-members who would be eligible to receive royalties. Thus, even if SoundExchange and one or more groups of webcasters reached a negotiated solution, as the law stands it could not go into meaningful effect.) The bill was authored by U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) (pictured) and co-sponsored by Reps. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), Donald Manzullo (R-Ill.), John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and was supported by SoundExchange, the RIAA, DiMA, and NPR. The NAB, which had entered the fray on Friday in a surprise attempt to quash the bill, withdrew its objections after the deadline in the bill for negotiations to transpire was extended from December 15th to February 15th. According to CNET News, “Saturday started with lobbyists for the National Association of Broadcasters ‘making a huge press in the House, blasting “The real deciding factor came when Congressman Berman (pictured) met with members of the NAB. They told him that they feared their Web competitors would get a deal done first… The NAB apparently was “‘Berman said “Fine, we’ll extend the date until Feb. 15, which gives you two more months to talk,”’ said “That did the trick, according to the source. According to RAIN’s Washington sources, the NAB had been offered the Feb. 15 date previously and had said they would “think about it,” but subsequently tried to derail the bill. NAB CONFIRMS KEY POINTS OF STORY: Dennis Wharton, an NAB spokesman confirmed to CNET on Saturday night that the NAB met with Berman and that the deadline was extended. He told CNET that the trade organization has A YouTube video of Inslee’s floor speech in support of Internet radio is here. This means that unless something unforeseen happens, the Webcaster Settlement Act should pass, according to CNET’s sources. “Then what? Internet radio stations must still reach an agreement with the artists and labels about how much to pay them for streaming their music over the Web. Sources on both sides say they are closer than ever before to a number, and should the Webcasting bill pass in the Senate, they predicted that a deal could be reached as early as next month.” Read the full CNET story here. OTHER KEY FACTORS: PRO-BILL LOBBYING FROM PANDORA AND NPRTwo other factors helped push the Webcaster Settlement Act through the House on Saturday — a massive e-mail push from Pandora to its listeners, asking them to call their Congressmen, and lobbying from NPR.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Pandora founder Tim Westergren (pictured) sent out the following plea via e-mail: “This is a blatant attempt by large radio companies to suffocate the webcasting industry that is just beginning to offer an alternative to their monopoly of the airwaves. Please call your Congressperson right now and ask them to support H.R. 7084, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 — and to not capitulate to pressure from the NAB. Congress is currently working extended hours, so even calls this evening and over the weekend should get answered.” BACKUP PLAN: JUDICIAL APPEALThe Wall Street Journal, in its coverage, observes, “If no extension is granted, the Webcasters still have another shot at lowering the royalty rate: They have appealed the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision in a Federal court in Washington, D.C. But people close to the situation said they considered the appeal’s chances narrow, because of standards required for granting a review of the decision.” Full WSJ story here.TOM TAYLOR SPECULATES, “DID BROADCASTERS AND BERMAN CHAT ABOUT A PERFORMANCE ROYALTY?”Radio-Info.com’s Tom Taylor writes, “I suspect that was one topic at Saturday’s kaffeeklatsch – maybe they reached some understanding about an issue that Berman and the NAB have wildly different views about. In Washington, sometimes you give up something to get something. Reading between the lines, maybe the lobbyists for the NAB did a little horse-trading. After all, the webcaster royalty situation isn’t nearly as critical to the association as staving off a new performance royalty for over-the-air plays of licensed music.
“Another dimension to this – Washington expects Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) to come off the “IP” (intellectual property) subcommittee in the next Congress, so he’s waged a particularly vigorous fight on behalf of the record companies in his California district in his last days there. The 30,000-feet view: We’re finally starting to see a viable business framework emerge for several kinds of relationships between the bleeding music industry and various customers… On the other hand, the performance royalty thing for broadcasters is actually quite ancient, going back many decades. There’s nothing new or digital about that one.” “RADIO’S LAST CRITICAL DECISION” — DEL COLLIANODEL COLLIANO ADVISES BROADCASTERS TO DO A 180: In his “Inside Music Media” blog, pundit Jerry Del Colliano writes, “Let’s not be too hard on the NAB. They are what they are — the voice of the powerful radio interests and as one of my readers put it ‘The NAB has a history of trying to kill what it doesn’t understand.’“Understand this: Terrestrial radio is being replaced by the Internet and mobile devices every day “So you don’t fight the Internet. You get into the Internet… “Radio execs can’t be faulted for not wanting to hand the competition their revenues and audiences on a silver platter. The paradox is that Internet radio is not — I repeat not — the competition. Just as radio got it all wrong for the past 12 years thinking satellite radio was their competition. “Internet radio is the future — their future. Get your lobby group working on that or else you’ll miss the last train to Profitsville.” Read Del Colliano’s full post (entitled “Radio’s Last Critical Decision”) 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 |
every (Congressional representative’s) office’ with appeals to kill the legislation, according to a lobbyist with knowledge of the events.
worried that the deadline didn’t give the organization enough time to strike its own royalty agreement.
one music-industry source with knowledge of the discussions. ‘There isn’t anything in the act that prevents traditional broadcasters from reaching their own royalty rate.’
dropped its opposition in both houses of Congress.
as new listeners come of age. Terrestrial radio is beginning to decline because it has no growth potential — no next generation. 
