Friday, July 6, 2007

Friday, July 6, 2007: This Week in News

Webcasting

SoundExchange Minimum Fee Offer Draws More Pushback
SoundExchange offers to cap minimum per-station fees at $2500 ($500 per station). While this would ease the pressure on services like Pandora or Live365 that create hundreds, if not more, personalized stations for listeners, the devil, as always, is in the details. Namely, SoundExchange will only agree to the cap if stations agree to stop their lobbying efforts for the Internet Radio Royalty Act, which would reverse the CRB's ruling for higher royalty fees.
by Paul Resnikoff, DigitalMusicNews, July 5, 2007


Webcasters' Plea Falls on Deaf Ears
Lawmakers met to hear testimony from groups and individuals affected by the impending July 15th increase in internet royalty rates, but concluded that private negotiations would be more effective than government intervention at this point. Everyone agreed, however, that the ongoing question of how artists can be fairly compensated for their work was ultimately not in the hands of SoundExchange and the music industry.
by Olga Kharif, Businessweek, June 29, 2007


Internet radio compromise on the way?
SoundExchange announced that it has offered the Digital Media Assocation (DiMA) a $2500 cap on the new webcasting royalty requirement. However, SoundExchange's only applies until 2008 while the increased rates extend through to 2010.
By Anne Broache, CNET, July 2, 2007


Radio

Terry Meets Band Known for Treadmills Video
The band OK Go recently met with Representative Lee Terry (R-NE) to discuss low-power FM radio. They also thanked Lee, who introduced the Local Community Radio Act on June 21st, for his efforts to keep low-power FM alive.
by Jenny Nowatzke, KETV, June 29, 2007

Traditional Radio to Pay for Play?
The music industry is lobbying Congress to get terrestrial radio to pay the
public performance royalty for sound recording, just like its Web and
satellite siblings
by Olga Kharif, Businessweek, July 5, 2007


New Technology

Widget helps fans, artists sell digital music
A new digital music technology called Mixtape, offered by the company
Goodstorm. can be embedded on blogs and Web sites, making them digital music stories.
Benny Evangelista, San Francisco Gate, July 2, 2007

Public Enemy to Use a Digital Distributor
Hip-hop legends Public Enemy are using TuneCore to digitally distribute
their next album. Says founder Chuck D: "I knew I had a fan base and I
wanted to go directly to them," he said. "What good is a label? All they do
is give you money. And in the area of digital distribution, they can't do
anything better or faster than anyone else."
Robert Levine, New York Times, July 2, 2007

Music Industry

EMI First Major to Sell MP3s Via Individual Sites
A deal between EMI and Snocap now allows music fans to purchase and download DRM-free mp3s directly from individual websites. Currently, the deal only allows for songs to be sold on MySpace pages but is set to expand to more sites in the future. 30 Seconds to Mars, Korn, Dean Martin, MIMs, and Yellowcard are among some artists who will begin selling mp3s on their MySpace pages.
by Antony Bruno, Billboard Biz, June 29, 2007


A change of tune
Some major labels are changing their deals with artists to include not just
music sales but other revenue streams including merchandising, concert
revenue and licensing deals
The Economist (UK), July 5, 2007


Net Neutrality

AT&T Rigs Net Neutrality Study
New studies by Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Nevada Reno have reported that "a net-neutral approach requires between 60 and 100 per cent more capacity to maintain the same level of performance." However, the credibility of both studies is questionable, because both were funded by AT&T who has long supported a "tiered Internet."
by Cade Metz, The Register, July 4, 2007

How the FTC Mangled Net Neutrality
Last week's FTC report on Net Neutrality lacked original research on the broadband market and simply reiterated justifications of how discriminatory behavior could benefit broadband providers. Their "wait-and-see" conclusion is ultimately flawed, because the analysis that led them to it contains illogical and, in some cases, irrelevant arguments.
by Art Brodsky, TPM Cafe, June 28, 2007

FMC's press release on FTC report:
http://www.futureofmusic.org/news/PRFTCnetneutralityreport07.cfm


Other


McCain Panders to Right Wing, Drops Call for Media Diversity
In response to the blocked Democrat-backed reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine, John McCain has introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act which states that "divergent viewpoints do not have to be offered on the same radio or television show, but can be found simply by channel surfing, reading a newspaper or browsing an Internet blog.
Think Progress, July 5, 2007

Republican Sideshow? The Fairness Doctrine and the Politics of Panic
Matthew Lasar discusses why the Fairness Doctrine has once again become an issue in politics and the events leading up to the proposed Broadcaster Freedom Act, which would kill the Fairness Doctrine once again.
by Matthew Lasar, Lasar's Letter, July 4, 2007

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