Labels, artists join national campaign for Net radio survival
·Apr 16, 11:06 PM
Posted by: Paul Maloney
From the press release: "Today representatives of the
growing SaveNetRadio
coalition announced
the launch of a national grassroots campaign
aimed at preserving the future of Internet radio. The coalition
of Internet radio listeners, music labels, artists, and webcasters
was formed in response to a March 2nd ruling by the Copyright
Royalty Board [RAIN coverage here]
that increases the fees webcasters pay to play music online by 300%
and threatens to bankrupt the vast majority
of webcasters.
"‘The CRB’s ill-informed decision to increase
royalty fees to this unjustifiable level
at the behest of the major recording labels
will  quite
simply bankrupt thousands of webcasters and destroy
Internet radio,’ Jake Ward, a spokesperson for the SaveNetRadio
campaign,  said.
"‘Radio on the Internet is not a passing fad or for
a niche audience. It is an enormously popular medium that offers
its more than 70 million listeners
unprecedented diversity; and
artists,  particularly
independent artists, the ability
to reach millions of fans across the country who would otherwise
never hear their work. Net radio has changed the way people listen
to, market, buy, and even make music and we
cannot afford to let it die.’
"As members of the coalition, including Kurt Hanson
from AccuRadio,
Johnie Floater from Live365,
Joe Kennedy from Pandora,
 and
Courtney Delaney from Outbound
Music, discussed their concerns with the Copyright
Royalty Board’s decision and its impact on Net radio, the coalition’s
website was launched this morning.
"SaveNetRadio.org
will enable the more than 70 million Net radio listeners and hundreds
of thousands of artists who enjoy and depend on Internet radio to
learn more about what they can do to help
preserve music diversity on
the Internet and ensure the future of Net
radio itself. The comments and views of the coalition’s
representatives can also be found on the coalition website.
"The increased royalty rate, scheduled to take effect
May 15th, will become the single largest
operating expense for webcasters according to a recent
J.P. Morgan
Securities Inc. [see RAIN here],study,
and the majority of webcasters will not
be able to generate enough advertising revenue to avoid bankruptcy.
Because the CRB rates are retroactive to January 1, 2006, even if
it is effective for only a single day, past due royalties alone
will be enough to bankrupt virtually all small and mid-sized webcasters,
many of whom are the hallmarks of programming diversity.
According to the American
Association of Independent Music, Net radio plays nearly
four times as much independent music as terrestrial FM
radio."
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