Congress is making internet radio nearly impossible to survive. I’ve mentioned here before that I love listening to Pandora.com, one of many internet music services that is endangered by recent action by the government to significantly raise the fees these stations are charged to play music over the web.
I have no problem with artists getting their fair share of the pie, but I think they may be overlooking how internet radio is helping them. I’ve purchased entire cds from artists I would have never discovered were it not for Pandora. It allows me to set up my own stations based on the artists I like. I have a Bruce Springsteen station, a Van Morrison station, a Johnny Cash station and a Bob Wills station. Pandora plays some of their music but also plays songs from artists who are similar.
Needless to say, these other artists are never heard on the over-the-air radio stations that seem to play the same 12 song rotation.
So help save internet radio. Go here and sign the petition, contact your local congressman. And artists, internet radio is good for you. I wish you and your record labels could see that.
Let’s clarify something. It isn’t the artists pushing this agenda. For the most part, it probably isn’t the record labels either. It’s ASCAP BMI and Soundcheck or whatever the hell it’s called. The directness and inherent connectedness of the internet make separate royalty collecting organizations almost unnecessary.
Musicians want to make records.
Record companies want to sell records. ASCAP and BMI want to collect as much money as they possibly can while providing an obsolete “service” built on vanishing business model.