DiMA Comment on SoundExchange and Pureplay Webcaster's agreement

Source:
http://www.digmedia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=87&Itemid=55

DiMA Comments: SoundExchange and Pureplay Webcaster Rate Agreement

Washington, D.C. (July 7, 2009) – Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA), issued the following statement.

“We are pleased that today’s royalty agreement between SoundExchange and pureplay webcasters will provide some relief from the crushing royalties that were imposed by the Copyright Royalty Board.

For many years one of DiMA’s top priorities has been to level the competitive playing field for Internet radio companies as compared to competing radio services, and today’s agreement is a step in that direction. We are particularly pleased that the new license is available to all commercial pureplay webcasters – including large pureplay webcasters.

DiMA anticipates that some of our members will take advantage of this new license, and so we again express our appreciation of the efforts of Congressional Internet radio supporters, including Representatives Jay Inslee, Don Manzullo, Zoe Lofgren, Rick Boucher and Senators Ron Wyden and Sam Brownback. We also thank Judiciary Committee leaders such as Chairman John Conyers, Jr. and Ranking Member Lamar Smith who supported passage of the Webcaster Settlement Acts of 2008 and 2009.

As Congress continues to focus more broadly on sound recording performance rights legislation, it continues to be our hope that comprehensive legislation will once-and-for-all level the playing field and ensure that all forms of digital radio are treated alike, so that consumers can choose among radio services based on the quality of their programming and service, and not have competition limited by discriminatory royalty rates.”



DiMA is the ambassador for the digital media industry: webcasters, online media, digital services, and technology innovators. DiMA advocates for business and regulatory environments that support our members’ growth and success, including fair competition, fair royalties, innovation and consumer welfare.

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An Agreement?

·Jul 7, 12:48 PM
Posted by: Kurt Hanson

Source: http://textpattern.kurthanson.com/kurtsblog/720/behind-the-new-pureplay-webcaster-license

Finally, for the first time ever, Internet radio stations have a royalty deal that is reasonably viable and extends for a reasonably-long period of time.

The specific part of the Internet radio industry that this particular deal saves are the webcasters who are (A) larger than hobbyists — i.e., who have aspirations of earning more than $1.25 million in revenues per year — but (B) are not wholly-owned divisions of multi-billion-dollar companies (e.g., AOL & Yahoo and CBS & other terrestrial broadcast groups).

In other words, the set of webcasters who may be able to benefit from this agreement includes webcasters like Pandora, AccuRadio, Digitally Imported, Radioio, and potentially dozens of other companies — really, anyone who wants to get into webcasting as a real business.

Comment: (from article)

What about the $25,000 minimum that’s due back from 2006? Why is nobody talking about that? How could anyone in these negotiations agree to that? Unless this is a way to squeeze out the little guy which is what SoundExchange has always wanted to do. This deal let’s down alot of broadcasters.

— Mark · Jul 10, 09:22 AM

Comment from author:
Seems the smaller stations haven't much room on this bus, eh?
Charges pending? How deep is the small broadcaster's pocket?
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Sources:

http://textpattern.kurthanson.com/crb/704/senate-passes-webcaster-settlement-act-of-2009

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-7084

Senate passes Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009
Posted by: Paul Maloney
June 18, 2009 12:44 PM

The Senate unanimously passed the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 yesterday. The bill now heads to the desk of President Obama. The legislation would grant SoundExchange and webcasters an additional 30 days from the date it becomes law to agree upon new a royalty rate.

The original Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 passed in October of last year and set a deadline of February 15, 2009 (RAIN coverage here).

SoundExchange was able to sort out royalty agreements with some groups of webcasters, but failed to do so with others — including “pureplay” webcasters, small commercial webcasters, and religious broadcasters. The new Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 would provide an extra 30 days to reach deals with these webcasters.

RIAA Notebook ~ Current Standoff

10/21/08
Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/ihc/PubArticleIHC.jsp?id=1202425402074

*There is a lot of Good Information on this link...

It's no secret that the old ways of doing business in the music industry are dying. CD sales are plummeting. Online piracy and counterfeiting are robbing artists of income. Meanwhile, Internet radio is booming. About 60 million listeners tune in to an Internet station every month, according to a 2008 report by JP Morgan North, American Equity Research. That's up from about 15 million listeners just three years earlier. One of the most popular Internet music sites and iPhone software applications, Pandora, creates personalized stations for listeners and is expected to bring in $25 million this year.

Some Webcasters say there's a big problem. The performance royalties that Internet radio stations must pay to broadcast music are so high, Webcasters say they're being forced out of business. They warn that if the rates aren't lowered, the entire music industry, from musicians to music lovers, will suffer. The Webcasters have done more than complain. They've formed a coalition with small record labels and listeners. They've won support from senators and congressmen, who have introduced legislation aimed at overturning the royalty rates. They've sponsored a day of silence in protest.

SoundExchange has negotiated deals so that some Webcasters can pay lower rates temporarily. And negotiations continue with the Digital Media Association, a trade association that negotiates royalties for its members. But ultimately, it will be up to Internet broadcasters themselves to find business models that turn a profit. For now though, predicting what's ahead for the digital music industry is difficult, if not impossible.

RIAA Notebook ~ A Challenge Arises

A CHALLENGE ARISES 9/26/2000
Source: http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-246239.html

A growing number of voices in the artist and technology communities are questioning whether the RIAA is taking too prominent a role in this process. Some groups are discussing challenging the RIAA-organized collective's power in front of the U.S. Copyright Office, which is ultimately responsible for selecting an agent to distribute the royalties.

The dissatisfaction underscores what continues to be a contentious three-way relationship between the record industry, technology companies and the artists whose work supports both businesses.
These groups, which include trade associations and lobbying groups for Webcasters and independent artists, are concerned that an RIAA-dominated group would not represent the interests of independent artists should there be a conflict between artists and labels.
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Question: How does SE complete/coordinate with ASCAP or BMI?

In traditional radio, the record companies don't get paid royalties every time a song is played. Instead, the composers or publishers of a song get a small royalty, which is collected and distributed by groups such as ASCAP and BMI.

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RIAA Notebook

RIAA NOTEBOOK

10/09/2000
Source: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,13029780,00.htm

The (RIAA) Recording Industry Association of America on Friday christened its long-planned group for distributing Webcasting royalties, naming it "SoundExchange."

The need for this group stems from the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which for the first time requires Webcasters to pay royalties. The music industry and technology companies have collectively been unable to come to terms on what this rate should be, and no group is yet officially in charge of collecting these fees. The record industry is the only group that has stepped forward in the United States to create such an organization, but it ultimately must be certified by the U.S. Copyright Office.

This excerpt is from the SoundExchange website *(Solicits sign up)

(SRCOs) Sound Recording Copyright Owners are individuals or entities (typically record labels) who own the sound recording copyright under U.S. Copyright law (sometimes referred to as the “master” rights to a sound recording) or have the right to license the public performance of a sound recording by means of a digital audio transmission.

"Please note that if you are an independent recording artist, you may own the “master” rights to your sound recordings if you have not assigned them, for example, to a record label" (And, if so, make sure you register with SoundExchange as both featured artist AND copyright owner).

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Source: http://www.soundexchangeblog.com/?page_id=2

SoundExchange is an independent, nonprofit performance rights organization that is designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to collect and distribute digital performance royalties for featured recording artists and sound recording copyright owners (usually a record label) when their sound recordings are performed on digital cable and satellite television music, internet and satellite radio (such as XM and Sirius). SoundExchange currently represents over 3,500 record labels and over 31,000 featured artists and whose members include both signed and unsigned recording artists; small, medium and large independent record companies; and major label groups and artist-owned labels.

Prior to 1995, Sound Recording Copyright Owners (SRCOs) in the United States did not have a performance right. This meant that, unlike their counterparts in most of Europe and other nations around the world, recording companies and artists were not entitled to receive payment for the public performance of their works. Users of music, the digital music service providers, freely performed these works at will, without a dime being paid to the rightful owners of those recordings or the featured artists who performed the songs – the recordings which created the backbone of their business.

The Digital Performance in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 changed that by granting a performance right in sound recordings. As a result, copyright law now requires that users of music pay the copyright owner of the sound recording for the public performance of that music via certain digital transmissions.

The U.S. Copyright Office recognized the benefits of SoundExchange’s administration of these royalties, and so has designated SoundExchange as the administrative entity for subscription services’ statutory license fees.

You may find SoundExchange’s Notice of Designation as Collective Under Statutory License here. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) was established by Congress in 2004 to set fair market rates to be paid to recording artists and record labels under the statutory license. The CRB reaffirmed SoundExchange’s sole collective status in 2007.

*End of quote from source.

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Define: What are Performance Rights Organization

http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/4/17/performance-rights-organizations-what-about-them.html

How to join a PRO (Performing Rights Organization)

http://www.ehow.com/how_2038730_join-performing-rights-organization-pro.html

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