I gave it a try, and the technology works really well. You can see which other users out there like the artists you’ve enjoyed, and see who their favorite artists are. I ended up purchasing a couple of CDs from bands I’d never heard of based on the selections I discovered at Pandora. Score one for the Internet: Technology delivers innovative business model that allows users to drive the content they consume vs. pre-defined programming.
All was well for a couple of months, then the i.p. address got blocked by the company I work for… apparently music is not an appropriate use of corporate band width. I contacted Pandora to see they had another i.p. address I could go to, but they did not. Fair enough, but I’m a little resourceful when something I care a lot about is involved. I reverted back to a local online radio station run by students for my music fix.
A short time later, I came across this article at wsj.com:
Last week the Copyright Royalty Board released a ruling proposing new performance royalty rates for online radio stations. An online radio station would pay .08 cent per song per listener for 2006 (the rates are retroactive), .11 cent in 2007, .14 in 2008, .18 cents in 2009 and .19 cents in 2010. Seems like little enough, but it adds up -- and this small change is a big change for small Webcasters. Under a deal brokered in 2002, small Webcasters had met their royalty obligations by paying artists and record labels 12% of revenue, but the new rules would do away with that exemption.The article went on to say that this new royalty fee would effectively wipe out most online internet radio stations. Land based radio stations pay a composer royalty, but not a performance royalty. Internet stations must pay both. This fee structure is designed to wipe out competition for traditional radio stations, and force you to be a good consumer and listen to what you are programmed to listen to.
I’ve been watching the music industry for a while. A family member of mine left the industry due to the upheavals it has gone through over the decade. The Internet has made music a much more fluid commodity, and existing music titans are kicking and screaming to retain control of their niche. Recently one or two of the major labels out there have capitulated and made deals that start to make more sense for me as a consumer.
Yesterday I got a letter from Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora.com. Here is the text:
Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.
In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.
Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio:
Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.
Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians.The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.
I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.
As always, and now more than ever, thank you
for your support.
-Tim Westergren(Pandora founder)
I’m not one to write my congressional representative about anything. Never done it…until today. This fee scheme is some bureaucratic attack to make and end run around a changing market place, and it will only work if you ignore it.
I found a few like minded bloggers on this subject. Check them out in your spare time:
Read/WriteWeb
Discourse.net
Gizmodo.com
Change Is Good
Zatz Not Funny!
Out Of The Woods
Geek Zone
BigSnit.com
Where Is My Mind
Paige Burns
One Thing I Know
The View From Here
My.bicycle
Cool Librarian
In Heavy Rotation
Beadweaver
The Dauntless Muse
America’s Victory ‘08
Repliqa
Pipeline
Gribbit’s Word
See One, Do One, Teach One
21st Century Paladin
1 comment:
Thanks for the link. I hope more bloggers write about this, the word needs to get out on the blogosphere......
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