Friday, July 20, 2007: This Week in News

Radio

The Great Spectrum Giveaway
The FCC is giving radio spectrum to community-based non-profit organizations in October. Radio for People, which includes Prometheus Radio, FMC, and Free Press, is assisting groups with the complicated application process, but many obstacles still exist to prevent community groups from breaking into a highly consolidated radio spectrum.
by Megan Tady, In These Times, July 18, 2007

RIAA to feds: Make XM-Sirius pay more, restrict listeners' recording
The RIAA has submitted comments to the FCC that urge the agency to approve the XM-Sirius merger only if the company agrees to create protections against the copyright infringing practice of "song trapping."
by Anne Broache, CNET, July 9, 2007

Webcasting

The Internet Radio Royalty Debate: Frequently Asked Questions
Digital Music News answers some of the most confusing questions about the ongoing internet radio royalty debate.
Digital Music News, July 15, 2007

FAQ: Net Radio's Mixed Signals
Amidst lots of talk in the blogosphere concerning July 15's increase in webcasting royalty rates, Anne Broache tries to answer some of the most common questions concerning the royalty hike.
by Anne Broache, CNET, July 13, 2007

Net radio negotiations hit snag over DRM
New debate emerged over whether webcasters should be required to cloak their streams in technologies designed to prevent "streamripping" as part of an agreement to cap the administrative fees they owe to SoundExchange.
by Anne Broache, CNET, July 18, 2007

DiMA and SoundExchange Trade Blows
Digital Media Association, a lobby group representing the internet's largest webcasters, and SoundExchange are engaged in arguments over webcaster royalty rate negotiations. DiMA claims SoundExchange has "backtracked" on its promises while SoundExchange maintains that DiMA has misunderstood their proposals.
by Eliot Van Buskirk, Wired.com, July 18, 2007

Public Radio: No Webcast Changes For Us Now
Public radio has reached a temporary agreement with SoundExchange that allows them to continue streaming music for the next three months. In the meantime, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has offered SoundExchange a payment for what they believe they will owe on July 15, and talks will continue between the two parties to negotiate a final agreement over fees.
by Anne Broache, CNET, July 14, 2007

Music Industry

The Digital Pre-Release Soft Launch and The More Of Less Strategy
The Canadian band Stars has decided to do a digital-only release of their new album 2 months before the street date. Glenn from Coolfer reports on the impact of this announcement.
Coolfer, July 18, 2007

New Format, Same Hope
The music industry has been criticized for holding onto a dead format, the CD. But CDs still make up 80% of album sales and are still preferred by many to digital downloads. Disney announced that they will now use the CDVU+ format, which is like a normal cd with video and photo extras.
Coolfer, July 19, 2007

Pirated Music Helps Radio Develop Playlists
Although the music industry is cracking down on piracy, it is also showing interest in what music illegal downloaders want. Clear Channel began collecting information on the most popular downloads from illegal file-sharing networks to help shape the playlists for their terrestrial radio stations.
by Sarah McBride, Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2007

Accused of Payola (Again), Clear Channel Scuttles Waiver Clause
Following FMC's attacks on Clear Channel's payola scheme, Clear Channel has "quietly dropped a licensing agreement that requires independent artists to waive royalties to be considered for airplay on the chain's more than 1,100 stations."
by Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer, July 19, 2007

Zune Pay-To-Share Rumors Floated Again
ZuneScene, a fansite dedicated to Microsoft's Zune, is reporting that Microsoft is patenting a Pay-To-Share system. With Pay-To-Share, users would share songs with expiration dates. If users then buy the song for themselves, the sharer would receive a commission in the form of music points or other currency.
by Matt Rosoff, CNET, July 13, 2007

Net Neutrality

The Players Vying for Spectrum
The Washington Post breaks down potential bidders in the upcoming 700Mhz
Auction for spectrum.
Washington Post, July 13, 2007