 RAIN 2/25: Radio royalty could be as damaging to broadcast as CRB rate is to Net radio ·Feb 25, 01:12 PM PERFORMANCE ROYALTY COULD “THREATEN THE VERY EXISTENCE” OF STATIONS, SAYS OXENFORDCongress heard arguments from musicians yesterday to adopt a broadcast radio performance royalty, while 16 more House members signed on to the anti-performance royalty bill. But many are asking more practical questions: if a performance bill is passed, how much will broadcasters have to pay, and how will they pay?
Industry attorney and RAIN contributor David Oxenford (pictured left) takes up the questions, noting that “given the high fees sought (and received) by the recording industry for the performance royalty in sound recordings from digital services…broadcasters could be asked to pay a huge bill.” With continuing layoffs, decreasing ad revenue and threats of more costs on the horizon from FCC-enforced localism requirements, “It is difficult to imagine how any significant royalty could be paid by broadcasters without eating into their fundamental ability to serve the public – and perhaps to threaten the very existence of many music-intensive stations,” Oxenford writes (here). “Something has got to give.” RAIN ANALYSIS: Given the sway the music industry and broadcasters (of all ilk) have in Congress, it seems reasonable that a settlement of this matter will come down to some workable compromise. That is, a royalty amount that won’t decimate the broadcasting industry, yet will still give labels and performers a sense that “something was gained” (side note: I don’t think it will, unfortunately, be a solution to Should a workable compromise be reached, how then could the music industry, allied performers, the CRB, and Congress then justify royalties on Internet radio which are — taking into account the relative sizes of the industries — many times those of the broadcast and satellite radio platforms? Could a broadcast performance royalty be webcastings best argument for parity? — PM SOME GROW WHILE OTHERS HIT BY END OF HOLIDAY SEASONJanuary’s Webcast Metrics Internet Radio rankings report growth for some stations, while listening declines for other stations likely reflect a return to normalcy following the holiday listening rush. While top-ranked CBS actually grew almost 3% in January to a 171,196 AQH from December’s 166,544, many, including Clear Channel, AccuRadio and Stream Guys were off their December numbers. Some new entries to the Top 20 chart include Beasley Broadcasting Corporate and Lincoln Financial Media.The January Webcast Metrics Top 20 chart for 6AM to 8PM, Monday-Friday is below. For larger and easier-to-read versions, click here. December ratings are in RAIN here. PIZZI EXPLAINS RADIO’S “POLAR SHIFT” TO ONLINE, CITES ACCURADIO’S SLIPSTREAM PRODUCTAfter discovering that the number of stations not streaming online are a small minority to those that do, Radio World’s Skip Pizzi concludes “that we could actually be seeing the beginnings of a polar shift.” While the on-air audience still dwarfs that of web streams, “overall online radio listening is experiencing double-digit increases while on-air audiences are generally flat or declining. We’ve seen this before, as FM audiences eventually overtook AM listening.” He points to services like Slipstream Radio — an AccuRadio product which builds customized online streams for radio stations — as another indicator that the balance is shifting to the Internet. “It’s clear that we are in the midst of an important evolutionary moment for the industry.” Read Pizzi’s article here.
MOBILE ADVERTISING WILL HIT $3.1B IN 2013 SAYS BIA’S KELSEY GROUPThere just may be an ad market for broadcasters’ and webcasters’ smartphone apps: The Kelsey Group, a division of BIA Advisory Services, found in a new report that U.S. mobile advertising will generate $3.1 billion in revenue in 2013. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 81.2%. The report also found that mobile Internet searches for local content will rise from 28% in 2008 to 35% in 2013, and that 15% of iPhone applications are currently local. According to the report, 54.5 million people use mobile Internet today in the U.S. For more, read the press release here.share: del.icio.us.  Reddit  Digg  Yahoo  Wink  Windows  Google  Newsvine 
Comment Other stories RAIN 2/8: Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy to keynote at RAIN Summit North RAIN 2/5: Streaming music site TheSixyOne adds game-like features, visual beauty to Net radio experience RAIN 2/4: Apple enables desktop browser previews of iPhone apps RAIN 2/3: Karmazin addresses competing with Net radio, for in-car listening and for Howard! RAIN 2/2: Radio's battle with webcasters for local advertisers may have begun RAIN 2/1: Sixty million in U.S. will listen to Net radio this week, study says RAIN 1/29: iPad's limitations will challenge app makers, including webcasters, says WSJ RAIN 1/28: RAIN announces 2010 Las Vegas Summit RAIN 1/27: Apple iPad to run iPhone apps; CBS names Kucharz to head digital efforts for radio and TV RAIN 1/26: News format most popular online last year, says RadioTime |
the very real financial hardships faced by many working and retired musicians, nor will it alter the reality that the labels’ decades-old ways of doing business are coming to an end). I simply can’t see Congress allowing a royalty that would kill the commercial broadcast industry. 
“Could a broadcast performance royalty be webcastings best argument for parity?”
Logically, yes, but realistically maybe not. Logic has never governed Congress’s actions when it comes to royalties and web radio. The fact that terrestial stations had NO royalty certainly did not prevent Congress from thinking it would be a good idea for stations broadcasting on the internet to have to pay high royalties.
— Mark Pfeifer · Feb 25, 02:52 PM · #