Recording Industry Decries AM-FM Broadcasting as 'A Form of Piracy'

[V1P3R]

Broadcasting music without payment is akin to piracy, the industry says.

 

[Duke]

Wow, while I support the RIAA in prosecuting p2p download pirates, etc., they are completely barking up the wrong tree here. Perhaps they might look up the word payola in the dictionary in order to remember a time when they used to pay the radio stations to play their songs.

 

[Tornado]

I'm not sure what to think of this (my paranoid mind makes me think this is some kind of attempt to force satellite radio on people), but I have to ask where the recording industry has been since the 1920s.

Perhaps they might look up the word payola in the dictionary in order to remember a time when they used to pay the radio stations to play their songs.

Which, if my sense of satire is as good as it normally is, wasn't actually that long ago. I know it was done throughout the 80s, probably into the mid-90s as well.

 

[V1P3R]

my paranoid mind makes me think this is some kind of attempt to force satellite radio on people.

What...? how...? whatever... :turns on mp3 player:

 

[Pupik]

Sheesh...as if the so-called recording artists hadn't already destroyed music, now the RIAA wants to come by and try to burn the ash pile.

Well, there's always short-wave radio!

 

[TB]

Pay us or we won't let you play our songs. - RIAA

Leave us alone or we won't play your songs. - NAB

Lame, lame, lame.

 

[YSSMAN]

Have I mentioned how much I hate the RIAA and their money-hungry asses? They just can't get enough, from the internet, to over-the-air radio. It boggles the mind!

Thank God for bands like Radiohead and NIN who are attempting to change the way the record industry works...

 

[Omnis]

Doesn't affect me because my radio is on copyright-expired classical music.

 

[Keef]

Doesn't affect me either because I get all my music from buddies who burn CDs and sell them to me and everyone else.

 

[Zrow]

They're dumb, and they're dinosaurs.

 

[niky]

Uhmm... let's see... goodbye profits?

What a bunch of idiots... The only way to sell records is exposure... and the only way to get exposure is broadcast. Without exposure, how the hell would you sell records?

I don't know anyone who's ever bought a record without hearing at least one or two singles off of it... or off of the band or performer's previous album. And concert tickets don't sell themselves, either.

Is it premature of me to be chortling with glee at the death of the music industry?

 

[buickgnx88]

Hopefully they realize that most people don't record songs off the radio anymore.

 

[FoolKiller]

Wait. Did I miss something? Since when did radio hurt the artists by not paying anything? All music radio stations buy an ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) license.

This sounds more like RIAA trying to get rid of this artist represented organization so they can siphon off their 80%.

From http://www.ascap.com/licensing/radio/radiofaq.html

RADIO LICENSING FAQs

What does the ASCAP Radio License give you?

Access to every variety of music you need to attract and entertain your viewers.

The immediate right to perform great new music written or published by our members.

Access to perform music in the repertories of over 90 affiliated foreign societies.

The right to perform music in commercials and jingles.

An indemnity if a claim for infringement is made against you, your staff or your advertisers based on the performance of our member's works.

A fee that has remained constant for more than a decade and has not increased in 11 years, even though the ASCAP repertory has grown.

What doesn't the ASCAP Radio License do?

The ASCAP radio license does not provide the right to authorize retransmissions of broadcasts of ASCAP music over loudspeakers in stores, restaurants or other locations open to the public, or by means of music-on-hold systems.

The ASCAP license does not provide the right to record copyrighted music, or change the lyric of a copyrighted work and use it in a commercial jingle or station promotion. These are known as "mechanical" or "recording" and "synchronization" rights and you should deal directly with the copyright owners for permission to record music or change a song. You may also want to contact the Harry Fox Agency at (212) 370-5330.

How are radio fees determined?

ASCAP's license fees for radio are the product of negotiations between ASCAP and prominent radio broadcasters, principally members of an industry-wide committee, the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC). All the of the RMLC members are broadcasters, and represent the entire spectrum of the radio industry. While a court is available to determine fees if necessary, over the years ASCAP and the committee have always been able to agree on license fees and terms.

What is the term of the radio license?

ASCAP and the current RMLC-negotiated license agreements covered the period January 1, 1996 through December 31, 2000.

ASCAP is currently in discussions with the RMLC for new license agreements for the period beginning January 1, 2001. If your station was licensed prior to December 31, 2000, in order to remain licensed for the interim period, you should now either join the other stations represented by the RMLC; sign the 2001 ASCAP Radio Station License Extension Agreement; or make your own application alone or with others. For additional information or forms please call us at (800) 99-ASCAP. Operators of new stations or stations sold on or after January 1, 2001, are offered interim license agreements that contain the same terms as the recently expired agreements, and provide for payment of interim license fees, subject to retroactive adjustment on the same basis as will be applicable for RMLC stations.

What is the cost of an ASCAP radio license?

ASCAP offers two types of license agreements for commercial radio stations.

The Blanket License is intended for stations that broadcast music frequently. The annual fee is a percentage of the station's annual revenues and is billed monthly. The rate for 1996 through 2000 is 1.615% for stations that have annual gross revenue over $150,000 or a minimum of 1% of adjusted gross income. For stations that bill less than $150,000 there is a flat fee schedule:

The Per Program License is primarily used by stations that use less copyrighted music, such as those with News/Talk formats. Under this license a station pays a base fee that covers incidental uses of music (such as jingles, themes, background music or signatures), plus an additional fee for "feature" music uses.

The base fee is .24% of Adjusted Gross Revenue. (Adjusted Gross Revenue is gross revenue less certain deductions such as Advertising Agency Commissions, Bad Debts or Net Revenue for Political Broadcasts.) The additional fee for "feature" uses has two components: a rate of 4.22% applies to a station's first 10% of weighted hours subject to fee up to a maximum of 400 hours. (A weighted hour is the time of broadcast weighted for the time period. For example, programs broadcast during weekday mornings have a greater weight than programs broadcast during the weekends.) The rate for all additional hours that are subject to fee is 2.135%.

Overall, under the new terms, stations who use ASCAP music in up to 55% of their program schedule will pay a lower fee on the per program license than on a blanket agreement.

Noncommercial radio stations pay an annual fee determined by the U.S. Copyright Office. Contact your ASCAP representative for this year's rate.

What is RAVES?

RAVES is an on-line account look up service. From our web site you are now able to view up-to-date balance, billing address and license information. You can also e-mail any questions or changes.

How do I use RAVES?

The service is password protected, and you will need a password and your station’s account number to access RAVES. Contact ASCAP at (800) 992-7227 (800-99-ASCAP) for assistance in obtaining your password.

Will I be able to look up more than one station at a time for my group?

If your group has three or more stations, you can see a summary of all stations within your group. If the summary feature does not appear for your stations, simply e-mail us and we will connect the accounts for viewing.

Are there other services available?

Did you know you can submit your annual reports online? The program is interactive, fast, secure and easy to use.

 

[mustangGT90210]

So they're telling me I need to pay whenever I want to hear music? Screw it, I'll make my own.

 

[nick09]

Yeah screw that, the radio is supposed to be free.

 

[Gil]

Wow, so now they want the radio stations to pay for the privilege of putting the music out so the fans can hear it and decide to support the bands with even more money by buying their music?

For the record (pun intended), I can get by on the music that sustained me thru my youth and teen years thru now.
Take all of it off the radio. Then there will be no new groups, no new music. [sarcasm]Brilliant![/sarcasm]
Record companies go down in flames. The entire industy needs to be restructured...
Hmmm, Maybe this could be a good idea.
Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[superberkut]

I actually like that!

Anyways, the RIAA is taking a gigantic step backwards with this notion... unless the radio stations play songs that were illegally downloaded. However, from what I recall, many of them still use CDs.

 

[FoolKiller]

Anyways, the RIAA is taking a gigantic step backwards with this notion... unless the radio stations play songs that were illegally downloaded. However, from what I recall, many of them still use CDs.

Only smaller radio stations still use CDs. The conglomerates, like Clear Channel, Cumulus, and Radio One use digital music stored on servers. All their stations have access to the same music files. Even the news sound bites are digitized and on a server.

Smaller, independent stations may still use CDs, but everyone is attempting to get away from it because it reduces the need for staff in many instances. Tons of time is saved by not shuffling through stacks of CDs to find the one they need next.



And anyone that thinks radio is free, you obviously haven't sat through 20 minutes of local car dealership and strip club ads just to hear "30 minutes of non-stop rock."

So they're telling me I need to pay whenever I want to hear music? Screw it, I'll make my own.

Um no, they want the radio stations to pay. You pay every time you buy an item or use a service you heard advertised on the radio.

They could not make you pay for over-the-air radio in a traditional sense without switching to a completely digital signal (HD Radio) and making you have a special decoding system for their services. It is too complex and too much of a hassle for both radio stations and consumers. It would be the death of traditional radio.

If this were to happen the only affect the consumer would notice is even more ads.

Often I listen to my iPod for music and only use the radio for traffic and weather.

 

[Shannon]

Is it premature of me to be chortling with glee at the death of the music industry?

No. The record industry is already on the way out with digital distribution and many artists releasing their own works independently (again through digital distribution). Really, the RIAA and all the other recording industries have themselves to blame for not adopting to new technology (internet) and still trying to cling onto the old and archaic (CDs). Of course, they also have themselves to blame for signing absolute garbage bands that no one with half an ear will buy...

Basically, their beloved CD sales figure is dropping and they're targeting radio stations and innocent home users to line their pockets again.

 

[nick09]

FoolKiller I meant that the radio should be free for users to use but we will get ads as thats how they are paid for. Good ol' radio will still be around for years as there is people like me who still use the old fashioned radio.

 

[Gil]

And anyone that thinks radio is free, you obviously haven't sat through 20 minutes of local car dealership and strip club ads just to hear "30 minutes of non-stop rock."

Often I listen to my iPod for music and only use the radio for traffic and weather.

Wait...They play MUSIC on the radio?!?!?!
I thought it was people bickering in the morning with "news" and traffic.
That's why I've been listening to my iPod and Books on Tape/CD.

 

[FoolKiller]

Wait...They play MUSIC on the radio?!?!?!
I thought it was people bickering in the morning with "news" and traffic.
That's why I've been listening to my iPod and Books on Tape/CD.

Yeah, it's this new thing they've been trying. I hear MTV might start these things called music videos at some point. That seems unlikely though. [/sarcasm]

 

[Gil]

Yeah, it's this new thing they've been trying. I hear MTV might start these things called music videos at some point. That seems unlikely though. [/sarcasm]

Damn, music videos on Music Television.
That's so...so...last century.

 

[forza2.0]

Uhmm... let's see... goodbye profits?

What profits?

Hardly anyone buys CD's these days and alot of artists are no longer rich lol. Suits me fine though as most artists are coming out with crap anyway.

 

[mustangGT90210]

Yeah, it's this new thing they've been trying. I hear MTV might start these things called music videos at some point. That seems unlikely though. [/sarcasm]

Music? On Musical Television?

I would NEVER!

 

[MustangSVT]

lol, I actually watch a lot of VH1 Classic. They have the "Totally 80s Show" and show a lot of rock videos from the 80s which I enjoy. As for the radio, I only use radio for traffic info. Otherwise, I use my Mp3 cd's for music.

In my dad's car he has Satelitte radio (sirius), and the music channels he gets are very good, also some really good comedy channels.

 

[niky]

No. The record industry is already on the way out with digital distribution and many artists releasing their own works independently (again through digital distribution). Really, the RIAA and all the other recording industries have themselves to blame for not adopting to new technology (internet) and still trying to cling onto the old and archaic (CDs). Of course, they also have themselves to blame for signing absolute garbage bands that no one with half an ear will buy...

Basically, their beloved CD sales figure is dropping and they're targeting radio stations and innocent home users to line their pockets again.

Which they still overprice based on the need to recover "development" money for the CD technology... which is pure bull, since it's faster and costs less to press a CD than to record a tape or press a record.

CD blanks nowadays cost even less than blank tapes of twenty years ago... which is mind-bogglingly cheap if you converted it to 80's money.

---

I still listen to the radio because nobody I like is making any new music, and you can't listen to the same old 1000-2000 song library everyday... radio still has its place in this world. You hear stuff you wouldn't ever dream of listening to (many of my albums were bought after a chance listen to some obscure or non-popular recording in the radio) without having to watch crappy MTVs, without having to search the internets and without having to dig through the ridiculous thousands of CDs of stuff at the local record store.

 

[ilovethescudo]

Aye carumba, they want to charge everyone up the ass don't they?

 

[nk4e]

I can hear a commercial now" Please insert coin to listen to *insert artist name and song*"