 RAIN 5/11: Congress considering new "Webcaster Settlement Act" ·May 11, 12:12 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY SCHEDULED TO TAKE UP WEBCASTER BILL WEDNESDAYAccording to the schedule on its website, the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday will address both the broadcast royalty Performance Rights Act and the “Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009.”
Both H.R. 848, the “Performance Rights Act,” and the “Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009” (which does not yet have a bill number) are scheduled for “full committee markup” this Wednesday May 13. (A “markup” is the process by which congressional committees and subcommittees debate, amend, and rewrite proposed legislation.) The more significant bill on the committee docket, the Performance Rights Act, would require terrestrial radio broadcasters to pay royalties to the copyright owners and performers of the music recordings they play. While broadcasters pay song composers and publishers (ASCAP and BMI fees), they’ve never been required to pay performers and record labels. (Newer forms of radio, like Internet radio, satellite, and cable radio, are required to pay royalties on both the composition and the recording.) Details of a Webcasters Settlement Act of 2009 have not been made public. However, it logically might simply be an extension of the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008. As SoundExchange was not able to reach accords with several classes of webcasters by the February 15th deadline (including “pureplay” webcasters, small commercial webcasters, and religious broadcasters), it’s reasonable to speculate that this new bill would extend that Feburary 15th deadline, so that agreements that may have been reached in the past few weeks can be implemented. You can see the House Judiciary’s schedule here. RAIN REVIEW: ABC MUSIC LOUNGE ELEGANTLY SIMPLE AND EASY-TO-USEABC’s recently launched radio stream ABC Music Lounge (RAIN coverage here) is stylishly designed and easy to use. The site itself offers sneak peaks at music to be featured in upcoming ABC shows, as well as a database of tracks used in older episodes. An easy-to-find button launches the radio stream in a separate browser window.
The user is greeted with a Blackberry-sponsored backdrop, large album art accompanied with meta data and some basic audio controls. The album art is routinely switched out for an image of the ABC show the track was featured on, as well as some fun facts about the artist. Users can rate the track and buy the track easily through a hotlink to Amazon. The Music Lounge also features a video streaming channel, with music videos and live performances. While ABC’s Music Lounge isn’t really revolutionary, but it’s elegantly simple, easy-to-use and well-designed. — MS Share your thoughts on ABC’s Music Lounge in the comment section below! RADIO PICKED UP $342M IN LOCAL ONLINE ADS LAST YEAR, FINDS BIARadio earned $342 million in local online ad revenue in 2008 according to the Kelsey Group, a subsidiary of BIAfn. “We see a compounded annual growth rate of 18.6% for online broadcasting advertising over the 2008-2013 period,” said Mark Fratrik, VP of BIA Advisory Services. But the researchers also say that’s just 7.3% of the $11 billion spent in local markets. “Given the challenges facing broadcasting, it’s even more important for broadcasters to continue to step up their mobile and Internet offerings.”Earlier this month, Borrell Associates reported that radio’s 2008 local Internet revenue was up 16.4% over 2007, growing from $189 million to $220 million. And, similarly, Borrell said radio has the “greatest potential and the weakest realization” of its online potential among local media competitors. See RAIN’s coverage of that news here. For more on today’s Kelsey Group findings, check out R&R’s coverage 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 |
That bill, enacted in law last October, set February 15, 2009, as the deadline by which SoundExchange could enter into royalty agreements webcasters (with terms different from those of the Copyright Royalty Judges) and have those deals carry the weight of law. Read more in the Federal Register 
