 RAIN 8/4: Royalty standard could land broadcast radio in same boat as Net radio ·Aug 4, 10:50 AM OXENFORD: BROADCASTERS COULD PAY 25% OF REVENUE IF NET RADIO STANDARD USEDThe Senate Judiciary Committee will today discuss the Performance Rights Act — legislation which would impose a performance royalty on broadcast radio. Based on past royalty determinations, industry attorney David Oxenford predicts that a performance royalty could cost broadcasters “as much as 25% of gross revenues.” That’s if the “willing buyer willing seller” determination standard — the very same used by the Copyright Royalty Board to set Internet radio’s rates in 2007 — is used, as is currently called for in the Senate draft of the legislation. That could change, however, as the hearing today will also take up the question of platform parity. That is, addressing the striking difference in royalty rates for broadcast, satellite and Internet radio. The differences come down to the copyright standard used to determine each medium’s rates, says Oxenford (pictured left).
For example, he writes (here), using the “willing buyer willing seller” standard Sirius XM should be paying 14% of their revenue. But, satellite radio only pays 6-8% because the 801(b) standard was used, Therefore, conclusions “that the broadcast performance royalty would be substantial seem right on target, unless the new legislation adopts the full 801(b) factors,” Oxenford writes. This is certainly possible, thanks to the discussion of platform parity, and the Senate could follow the House of Representative’s example in including the 801(b) standard (RAIN coverage here). However, the House version also omitted the “factor looking at the preservation of the stability of the industry which was so important in the Sirius XM decision.” It all could mean the difference between 25% and 6-8% of revenue for broadcasters. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing takes place at 2:30pm eastern. You can watch the hearing online here. TARGETSPOT NAMES EYAL GOLDWERGER AS CEO TO REPLACE PERLSONTargetSpot today announced that Eyal Goldwerger will be taking over as CEO of the Internet radio advertising network. He takes over the post from Doug Perlson, who is stepping down after serving as TargetSpot’s CEO since 2007. Goldwerger was previously CEO of software company XMPie Inc. and successfully oversaw the company’s acquisition by Xerox. TargetSpot handles the ad sales for many Internet radio companies, including CBS Radio, FOX News, Yahoo! LAUNCHcast and AOL Radio. For more, check out TargetSpot’s press release here.
SPB LAUNCHES APP FOR WINDOWS MOBILE DEVICESSPB has launched SPB Radio, an application for Windows Mobile devices that aggregates 1,500 Net radio stations into a “finger friendly” interface. SPB Radio’s included stations are organized by region or genre and the application allows users to set presets. “Navigation is straight forward and simple,” wrote WMExperts, which reviewed the new application (here). “The more I used SPB Radio, the more I liked it. If you’re looking for an Internet radio player SPB Radio is worth a listen.” 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 |
which (among other things) attempts to “preserve the stability of the industry.” This is not considered in the “willing buyer willing seller” standard, which is why Internet radio and other media have been stuck with high rates. 
