I was wondering how long it would take for this to happen.
http://www.radio-info.com/news/sirius-xm-sues-soundexchange-alleging-an-illegal-boycott
More than five years ago, I said that SoundExchange was an illegal monopoly. That digital radio operators had no choice but to pay them for music use. It had come close to bankrupting Pandora and Sirius, and has limited the growth of internet radio. Because SoundExchange is part of the RIAA, it is in collusion with the major labels. It took Mel Karmazan to do this, because Tim Westergrin couldn't. But he knows this is true.
Broadcast radio pays royalties to three independent licensing agencies. The PROs compete among themselves for clients, and broadcasters can negotiate with them in a competitive marketplace, without input from the Copyright Royalty Board. It's a system that has worked well for almost 90 years. Everyone makes money. Lots of money. No one is beholden to anyone.
But the record labels wanted to control everything. They wanted to punish broadcasters, and hold them hostage, keep them in poverty and make them beg for music. Then they created a campaign to turn broadcasters into the bad guys, saying they wanted music for free, ignoring the fact that broadcasters already pay a performance royalty. The digital royalty is ten times what songwriters get, which is unfair to the songwriters, and demonstrates the fact that the digital system is broken.
It's time for a judge to intervene in this system, because Congress screwed it up, and no one can fix it. Until they do, no one will be able to make money in digital broadcasting.
http://www.radio-info.com/news/sirius-xm-sues-soundexchange-alleging-an-illegal-boycott
More than five years ago, I said that SoundExchange was an illegal monopoly. That digital radio operators had no choice but to pay them for music use. It had come close to bankrupting Pandora and Sirius, and has limited the growth of internet radio. Because SoundExchange is part of the RIAA, it is in collusion with the major labels. It took Mel Karmazan to do this, because Tim Westergrin couldn't. But he knows this is true.
Broadcast radio pays royalties to three independent licensing agencies. The PROs compete among themselves for clients, and broadcasters can negotiate with them in a competitive marketplace, without input from the Copyright Royalty Board. It's a system that has worked well for almost 90 years. Everyone makes money. Lots of money. No one is beholden to anyone.
But the record labels wanted to control everything. They wanted to punish broadcasters, and hold them hostage, keep them in poverty and make them beg for music. Then they created a campaign to turn broadcasters into the bad guys, saying they wanted music for free, ignoring the fact that broadcasters already pay a performance royalty. The digital royalty is ten times what songwriters get, which is unfair to the songwriters, and demonstrates the fact that the digital system is broken.
It's time for a judge to intervene in this system, because Congress screwed it up, and no one can fix it. Until they do, no one will be able to make money in digital broadcasting.