May 04, 2007

Record Labels Stick Dick in Net Radio's Mashed Potatoes. Evidently unbalanced royalty fees weren't enough. Now the Land of the Free™ is determined to dictate whether there will be internet radio for the rest of the world, too. Pandora bids adieu to filthy foreigners.
posted by middleclasstool 17 years ago
  • This is what bugs me about the silly HD-DVD crack code thing the other day. Net radio isn't piracy, it isn't hacking, it isn't "sticking it to The Man"; it's a valid and valuable idea that has the potential to reshape part of the media landscape. It needs to be protected from the panic-stricken over-reaction of an organization that is watching its business model turn to dust before its very eyes. Effective opposition involves active participation to a degree than goes far beyond making a clever Photoshop image of a lolcat or posting a string of meaningless characters on your blog. So there's no groundswell of thousands of webpages or national news headlines about the power of the web community finally striking back at the RIAA. The HD-DVD code is the web equivalent of all those fucking yellow ribbon stickers. Meanwhile, we can probably kiss 95% of net radio goodbye.
  • The simple solution is to have Pandora pay license fees for everything they play, regardless of the country of destination. They are, after all, using copyright material for commercial purposes. I don't see why the listener's location needs to play any part in it.
  • It's OK, we never listen to American music on our European net-radio, anyway.
  • LIES!
  • So what are you doing about it, briank?
  • Other people's crative output should be free! Viva La Revolucion!
  • Excellent post title, mct.
  • Nick -- I threw a small donation at SaveNetRadio.org and have contacted my representative about the Internet Radio Quality Act, which was introduced recently to directly counteract the CRB's royalty hike. Say what you will about these methods of trying to influence Congress, but they go a lot further than posting a meaningless string of characters on a blog.
  • Other people's crative output should be free! You get this argument where?
  • (oops, missed a tag...this is what I meant to post) Nick -- I threw a small donation at SaveNetRadio.org and have contacted my representative about the Internet Radio Quality Act, which was introduced recently to directly counteract the CRB's royalty hike. Say what you will about these methods of trying to influence Congress, but they go a lot further than posting a meaningless string of characters on a blog.
  • i prefer gravy in my mashed potatoes.
  • they go a lot further than posting a meaningless string of characters on a blog. cockpunch. Other people's crative output should be free! Free music leads to finely crafted $30 boxed sets and KISS made $46 million on their reunion tour. The (five major) record companies are f**king up royal. Which seems to be a trend in these a-here parts. Now shut up 'n play yer guitar.
  • Potatoes a la Cockpunch!
  • posting a meaningless string of characters on a blog. Meaningless? Like: jfksdla jbvodnero vhove0q3fdsa?
  • jfksdla jbvodnero vhove0q3fdsa! 4 EVA
  • I have no problem with free music, but Pandora is making money from it, from subscriptions and ads. They should absolutely be charged licensing fees.
  • And they're paying. In fact, net radio has to pay additional royalty fees that broadcast radio stations do not, and at several times the rate that satellite radio stations have to pay, with nearly no consideration for whether they're non-profit or not, and they're even going to be forced to pay these ridiculous rates backdated before the CRB's actual decision. Hence the content of my second link. Nobody's arguing that they shouldn't have to pay, they're arguing for a level playing field. The CRB rate hike doesn't come close to fair.
  • Google: "Did you mean: jfksdla habanero vhove0q3fdsa"? Yep, that's it!
  • Link, please. ; )
  • So what's the deal with the first link? I read it, but still don't understand why the license fees being paid by Pandora don't cover listeners in other countries.
  • I'm not sure about this situation, either. Evidently the fees they're paying now, according to the record labels, only cover broadcasting in the US under the DMCA. Since that's US law only, they'll have to negotiate separate fees with the record labels to broadcast to other countries, is my understanding. Basically the labels are looking to make as much money as they can, the way I'm reading this. It all strikes me as almost charmingly archaic, placing national boundaries on internet sites like that. Doesn't seem like a very forward-thinking model, and certainly not one that will ultimately survive.
  • broadcast to other countries Hey calm down lady, it's just ones and zeroes!
  • It all strikes me as almost charmingly archaic, placing national boundaries on internet sites like that. Doesn't seem like a very forward-thinking model, and certainly not one that will ultimately survive. Well said.
  • I just got my email from Pandora today telling me my IP would be blocked... (even though it's still working for the time being) Ah well, they kept playing crap I didn't want to hear anyways.