Bursting The Broadcast Bubble - The New Music Gestapo

Talk about "Frivolous Lawsuits"...
BILLIONS of dollars & the survival of some non-commercial "Local" Radio Stations.

The WAR ON MUSIC
What is this, the Third Fucking Grade???


From WIRED:

The recording industry and U.S. radio companies have squared off for decades about whether AM and FM radio broadcasters should pay royalties to singers, musicians and their labels.

But now the debate is getting meaner; there's more at stake as the recording industry seeks new income avenues in the wake of wanton peer-to-peer piracy and declining CD sales in part due to the iPod and satellite radio. A U.S. House subcommittee could vote as early as Thursday on a royalty measure.

On Monday, the recording industry sent the National Association of Broadcasters -- the trade group representing the $16 billion a year AM-FM broadcasting business -- a can of herring to underscore that it believes its arguments against paying royalties are a red herring. The NAB says its members should not pay royalties because AM-FM radio "promotes" the music industry.

The herring present followed another gift -- a dictionary, a bid by the recording industry to explain what it saw as the difference between fees and taxes.

The NAB describes the latest royalty proposal as a tax.

And two weeks ago, the recording industry, under the umbrella group musicFIRST, sent the NAB four digital downloads:

"Take the Money and Run" by the Steve Miller Band

"Pay me My Money Down" by Bruce Springsteen

"Back In the U.S.S.R" by Paul McCartney

"A Change Would Do You Good" by Sheryl Crow.

(I wonder if these artists were paid royalties for the RIAA's use of their material...)

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

WHAT - since when???
They've certainly been throwing that "P" word around a lot lately.

"It's a form of piracy, if you will, but not in the classic sense as we think of it," said Martin Machowsky, a musicFirst spokesman. "Today we gifted them a can of herring, about their argument that they provide promotional value. We think that's a red herring. Nobody listens to the radio for the commercials."

The coalition includes the Recording Industry Association of America, Society of Singers, Rhythm & Blues Foundation, Recording Academy and others.

The argument boils down to this: Radio is making billions off the backs of recording artists and their labels; and the recording artists gain invaluable exposure because they're on the radio, so royalties should not have to be paid.

A House subcommittee is expected to approve a royalty bill perhaps as early as Thursday. The measure, HR 4789, sponsored by Rep. Howard Berman, D-California, would move to the full House Judiciary Committee -- legislation that the National Association of Broadcasters said would cost the industry as much as $7 billion annually.

An identical proposal, S 2500, is in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rates under both proposals would be negotiated, although small and public stations would pay a flat $5,000 annually.

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The RIAA have over 20,000 lawsuits filed presently - and counting.

The NAB is taking it to the next level and is invoking a race card of sorts as a congressional committee is set Thursday to vote on whether U.S.-based AM and FM radio broadcasters should pay royalties to singers, musicians and their labels.

Three of the world's Big Four music concerns of the RIAA are foreign-owned, the NAB points out in an advertisement to be published in District of Columbia-area publications Thursday.

"Now they are not telling you the money migrates overseas," the print ad says, adding, "Don't let the recording industry hurt local radio stations just to put money in the hands of big international companies."

The ad shows a duck, wearing a T-shirt that reads "No performance Tax."

The duck is carrying a suitcase bulging with cash. On the case are stickers representing the colors of France, Japan and England. On top of them are more stickers from the labels covering their respective countries.

On the British colors is an EMI emblem. Over the French colors is a Universal BMG sticker. A Sony emblem rests atop Japan's colors. Warner Music Group, the fourth of the world's Big Four recording companies, is based in New York and not depicted in the ad.

The ad (.pdf) comes two days after the industry decried broadcasters as pirates for being exempted from paying royalties to singers, musicians and their labels. Under the proposed legislation, the industry says it could cost broadcasters up to $2.4 billion a year.

Dennis Wharton, a NAB vice president, said the ad is directed to members of Congress, who have never required such royalties under the premise that the promotional value of radio offsets payment of royalties.

"We're simply pointing out the fact that a large percentage of his money will go offshore, out of the U.S., away from America's hometown radio broadcasters," Wharton said. "Most members of Congress have radio stations in their district who would be affected by this new levy."

The Performance Rights Act is expected to be approved in the House Committee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property on Thursday. The package would move to the House Judiciary Committee before heading to the full House. The Senate has an identical measure in committee.

Hat Tip to DUSTY @ BRING IT ON!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
IMHO, The RIAA should be forced to drop the last "A" in their acronym because America has nothing to do with it.
The monies collected are shipped directly overseas...

I think the NAB should send the RIAA
a flaming bag of shit.