Help Save Pandora and Internet Radio
I use Pandora (internet radio service) occasionally. It is a great way to find new music that you might like. Last week I received the following email from Pandora after a new copyright ruling on internet radio:
Hi, it’s Tim from Pandora,
I’m writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays, and broadcast radio doesn’t pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.
In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.
Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541
Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.
Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I’m no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster’s business potential.
I hope you’ll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.
As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)
While I don’t use Pandora that often since it is a bit lacking in the soundtrack department (so far - they will be adding soundtracks in the future), I fully support the concept of internet radio. I don’t believe Pandora takes away from music sales because there are limitations on what you can play - you can’t just pick and choose the songs you want. Further, it may even boost sales of less well known artists because it is a nice way to hear new music. If I find something I like, I’m more likely to buy the CD.
So I signed the petition, which sent an email to my local senators and representatives. On Monday I received a response from my senator:
Dear (name removed):
Thank you for contacting me regarding copyright protection. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.
Copyright protection has been central to America’s prosperity and job creation. Movies, books, computer software, television, photography and music are among our unique American products and some of our most successful exports. United States industries depending on copyright protection employ nearly 4 million workers and produce over $65 billion of our exports ( more than agriculture and automobile manufacturing.
Protecting content in a high-technology age is a new and daunting problem, and copyright protection is an important challenge as the broadband revolution offers even more far-reaching possibilities and opportunities. With new speed and interactivity, the entire store of movies, music, books, television and raw knowledge can be made widely available. I believe copyright protection is a foundation of innovation, and copyright law should work to ultimately protect the best interests of consumers. Intellectual property is the creative core of the information age, and I agree this is a pivotal issue for Congress to address.
I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.
Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
While the email is pretty generic, I appreciated receiving a response. I encourage anyone who supports internet radio to sign the petition. Numbers mean a great deal, and even if it doesn’t change the ruling, it can send a message to those creating the laws.