• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

SIMPLE WAY TO KILL PROPOSED ROYALTIES TO LABELS

J

JIBGUY

The only thing the NAB has come up with is to call the proposed radio-paying royalties to the labels (yes, to the labels, not the artists [unless we're talking pennies]), a "performance tax". So ineffective.

Since we, in radio KNOW that what we do SELLS records/CD's, we have to prove it to Congress. How do we do that?

At my stations, I get dozens of emails each week from listeners who ask "Who sang that song you played at 12:54 PM. I like it a lot and I'd like to BUY it." Funny thing is, listeners always put that in... "I'd like to buy it"... as they think we radio stations and record companies are such good buddies. Little do they know that now we are enemies.

So, what the NAB should do, is to ask all stations to forward all such emails that every station gets to them, so they can compile volumes of these e-mails to present to Congress. This would convince Congress that the current non-royalty system is pretty much an even swap, a symbiotic relationship which should conitnue.

This would also put to rest the labels' claims (and they know it isn't true) that the current relationship is weighted too favorably for radio.

Bob Bittner
owner
WJIB-740-Cambridge MA
WJTO-730-Bath, Maine
 
JIBGUY said:
The only thing the NAB has come up with is to call the proposed radio-paying royalties to the labels (yes, to the labels, not the artists [unless we're talking pennies]), a "performance tax". So ineffective.

Since we, in radio KNOW that what we do SELLS records/CD's, we have to prove it to Congress. How do we do that?

At my stations, I get dozens of emails each week from listeners who ask "Who sang that song you played at 12:54 PM. I like it a lot and I'd like to BUY it." Funny thing is, listeners always put that in... "I'd like to buy it"... as they think we radio stations and record companies are such good buddies. Little do they know that now we are enemies.

So, what the NAB should do, is to ask all stations to forward all such emails that every station gets to them, so they can compile volumes of these e-mails to present to Congress. This would convince Congress that the current non-royalty system is pretty much an even swap, a symbiotic relationship which should conitnue.

This would also put to rest the labels' claims (and they know it isn't true) that the current relationship is weighted too favorably for radio.

Bob Bittner
owner
WJIB-740-Cambridge MA
WJTO-730-Bath, Maine
Click to expand...

I get similar emails and phone calls. In fact, since my station and yours enjoy a more or less common format, I'll relate this story: Before we signed on, the largest record store in town had a very small space (about 4 feet) devoted to Standards, Easy Listening Big Band, show tunes and similar recordings. Even though this is a pretty big store it was a very, very small part of the floor plan. What’s more, the display was pretty dusty, with a selection that looked like it had been there for a while. All you could find were a few obvious Frank Sinatra CD's A Dean Martin or two and some Big Band collections. Nothing much.

Now five years later, that section has expanded to be an entire aisle length and it is stocked with a good selection of the genre. There are several hundred CD's to choose from. Now, it is possible that the store got a new manager who just happens to like this stuff, but I'll bet the increase in floor space is because people are buying the product. Retailers who want to stay in business do not devote a lot of space to dead merchandise.

Since we are the only station in the area who plays that kind of music, I can't help but think that maybe "radio" has played a part in that change.

Oh, and despite what RIAA and others would have you believe, I doubt that the estates of the Andrews Sisters are getting much of a return on the continued success of their music. I could be wrong on that, but I doubt it.
 
Would be interesting to take the play-list for a typical popular music station (e.g.: AC, country, CHR/Rock) for a day and identify the actual owner of the performance rights for each song.

Would be very enlightening and bolster the NAB's argument that most of the payments would go, not to the artists, but instead to a few large corporations.

Unfortunately, don't know of any good on-line source for this information. TM's music finder, for example, only has spotty coverage.
 
Speaking of the Andrews Sisters, Patty Andrews the last surviving sister will be turning 90 years young on Feb. 16, 2008. Happy Birthday Patty.......
 
RIAA & CD to Computer, This is going too far!

There have been rumblings on various boards that RIAA is going after people for uploading CDs to their computer. Apparently it violates copyright to simply upload a CD to your computer and transfer the music to your own personal Ipod. I saw it on the nightly news tonight.

How does this affect the radio industry. I can't think of a single station in my entire market, and I'm not aware of any stations in the surrounding market that don't use some kind of a Digital Audio Delivery System, AKA computer automation at some time or portion (if not all) of the broadcast day. Stations have been doing this sort of thing for years. Years ago before computers most stations transferred CDs or Records to Carts. Are we breaking the law at my radio station for transferring our CDs onto our Automation Computer? Just how the Heck are we supposed to stay on the air. I really think RIAA is going too far. Leave private people alone. As long as they are using the music for their personal use and not posting it for free for others to take, what is the big deal? If this is truly enforcable, then most every radio station is going to have to pay a lot of royalty money or go back to manual operation. That could put a lot of small stations out of business.
 
I think radio stations are allowed to make one copy of a recording. At least that used to be the case some years ago, it may have changed. Of course, a lot of stations have a backup server for their computer system, so they would have two copies.
 
the simplest way to kill proposed royalties to labels is to stop playing music--don't be shocked to see hundred/thousands of radio stations to flip to some sort of news, talk or sports format if this thing passes.
 
Even simpler...

Stop playing music by one conglomerate, and see how that affects their sales. Rotate every 3 months. That should demonstrate the value of radio airplay.
 
I like what Christian Listening Network's response has been to artists who support the performance royalty for radio: remove them from their playlists.

Here's a news byte from Radio and Records about this:

"A release from the CLN explains, “In sympathetic response to the cries of the musicFIRST Coalition that radio airplay has hurt rather than helped musical performers, Christian Listening Network stations will no longer air music recorded by artists listed on the Coalition's Web site” as “Founding Artists.”"

This means there are 5 radio stations in North Carolina that won't be playing music by artists who support this royalty.

It's an idea that can easily, and I believe will, spread to other stations, networks and media companies as the performance royalty issue heats up.

db
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom