Shouldnt record labels pay radio stations?
For the free promotion instead of vice versa?
BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM: The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is asking Congress to establish a performance royalty on free radio, despite the unparalleled promotional value the record labels and artists receive from radio airplay. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy (D-VT) and House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Chairman Berman (D-CA) have both introduced legislation (S. 2500 and H.R. 4789) that would mandate broadcasters pay to play and promote music. The impact would be catastrophic – for free radio and the local communities who rely on us for their news and information, forcing dramatic cuts both in personnel and content.
Greed strikes again.
Radio and records for years had enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. We’d play those songs we thought fit our station and had potential. Those songs would become hits (or not – it always was in in the grooves).
The artists and labels would benefit from the incredible exposure the records would get with airplay, sometimes in multiple formats, as their songs sold. If an album was strong enough to sell several singles, people would buy the entire album and gain more exposure to the artist and label.
Because times are tough and the entire paradigm of the record business has changed, with artists becoming successful on their own through the internet, downloads, sharing and the like, labels are hurting. Beause of the paring of ad budgets radio stations are hurting.
The labels have asked their representative organization the RIAA to find a way to get stations to pay for airplay. After all they say ACAP, BMI and SESAC collect royalties for the witers and publishers, why shouldn’t we get a piece of that? Well, because writers and publishers don’t press, distribute, promote and sell records in stores – labels do.
So radio says, fine, if they want to pay three times the average rate for a 60″ commercial each time their 3′ song is played (and it’s not payola if you announce it’s paid), we’ll do that. So there’s a bit of a bladder-emptying competition right now between the two.
Those who previously were happy to work together to promote good music got greedy. A top-selling album, even with all the free downloads will still make a lot of money if it’s in the grooves – if the “sound is there.”
Couple that with the additional revenue and exposure the concerts and other paid appearances bring and we think the labels and perforners are doing just fine.
And we’ll go buy our own records if they complain about providing promo copy – this, however would lead to very little newer music played, especially in the bigger markets. And don’t look for anymore free publicity for a few measly tickets and T-shirts in return for thousands of dollars in airtime and the priviledge of saying we’re “presenting” the show.
More and more artists are coming direcly to web sites and radio stations wthout labels, becuase you are in virtual slavery for the first few albums. Like everyone else, get used to a different world and find other ways generate incremental revenue.
Adapt or die (or something like that)
—Darwin
A guy named duh
Free-doom News Episode 01
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