SoundExchange concession
Recently, SoundExchange made an offer to allow small webcasters to broadcast music an alternative to the massive rate increased that are supposed to go into effect in July. SaveNetRadio quickly rejected the offer as not enough, because they feel that larger webcasters should have the same breaks.
And I thought this campaign against SoundExchange being all about the little guy?
Of course, it’s not. The campaign to “save net radio” is not about actually protecting people’s ability to play music online, it’s about using government power to force content providers to sell their music for less than what they feel they are entitled to. I think it is a shame that SoundExchange feels that it even has to make these types of concessions, if it is doing to to try to deflect more government attention. The only issue the RIAA (or anybody working in any industry) should have to concern themselves with when setting the prices for their product is the demand for that product. It’s sad that today’s political climate allows people to use the government to shake down others for their property.
What this concession does do, however, is eliminate all of the sob-stories about amateur webcasters who were going to go into personal bankruptcy over the royalty rate increases. All of you small webcasters, now you won’t have to shut down your internet radio stations. You’ll be able to continue on, content in the fact that government intervention allows you to play somebody else’s music without their permission. Your pressure has saved “net radio” from the people that created the music.
Tags: [government intervention, internet radio, net radio, riaa, soundexchange]Comments
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