Being a fan of Internet radio from way back, I’m constantly disappointed (though not surprised) by the music industry’s effort to crush an exciting medium that promises continued growth and distribution of new music. It seems like the industry would be doing all it can to foster the development of a potentially huge new income area. Instead, they’re hording all their chips and, in predictably myopic fashion, refusing to look beyond what has worked in the past. Their latest attempts are especially disturbing:
On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio’s royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry’s future.
At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!
It’s the little guys who are out there promoting new and established acts in their online broadcasts. And they are already paying for the ability to do so; few make a profit and many are paying out of their own pockets for nothing more than the enjoyment of contributing to the global music community.
We have the opportunity to squawk here. You can voice your disapproval of these draconian new rates by calling or writing your elected official and telling them what a steaming pile of dung this whole thing is.
Check out SaveNetRadio.org for more information.
John Mayall has always been viewed as a musical father figure. Already in his thirties when the British blues invasion swept England and the U.S., Mayall provided the fertile soil from which the influential young guitarists Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Peter Green would grow before moving on to define the sounds of their own generation of music. That is why it seems fitting that the seventy-three year old singer and multi-instrumentalist – still as active as ever – would take time to look back and pay his respects to the man who played a similar role for Mayall.
Continue reading ‘John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers: In the Palace of the King’
It was a grueling evening, all in all. What started with a seven-run scoring spree, went on… and on… and finally, mercifully, ended in a 9-5 loss. After attending four wins, we got to witness the Angels team that hit the road a couple of weeks ago (and lost 7 of 8).What I failed to mention last night, whilst thumbing the tiny keys of my trusty Treo, was the poor idiot who got ejected for fan interference. In the first inning. With his son and father sitting on either side of him.
The scene: One out in the first; Tiger second baseman Placido Polanco pops a foul ball down the left field line. With Garret Anderson galloping hard to make the catch, our hero leaps from three seats right of the action to stick his paw into Anderson’s outstretched glove. When the commotion is over, the ball lands harmlessly in the dirt and rolls to the outfield grass. The giveaway calendars start flying.
Continue reading ‘Further notes on a long night’
After one and a half innings, the Tigers have scored 7 runs and chased Jered Weaver from the game. The Halos have dug themselves a pretty deep hole…
On a more pleasant note, all fans in attendance tonight received a handsome Angels wall calendar. In exchange for such marketing finery, we can certainly stomach a few innings of minor league quality pitching, no?
…Now get lost.
Talk about your roller coaster week. Angels’ pitcher and Virginia Tech alum Joe Saunders started his witnessing the horrors at his alma matter and then experienced the thrill of pitching a solid six inning victory against Seattle on Friday night (in which he wore his VT hat, to honor the victims). So how do you wrap up a week that had more ups and downs than a cheap stock broker’s prospects?
You get demoted to the minors.
The Angels announced that they’re sending Saunders to AAA Salt Lake City to make room for staff ace Bartolo Colon, who came off of the disabled list last night (and pitched impressively).
Thanks for the big game and the 1.96 ERA, kid. Now get your ass back to Salt Lake while we figure out what to do with the other six starting pitchers on our staff.
Right now, the Angels have no fewer than seven legitimate starting pitchers between their Big League and AAA rosters. Add to that the half-dozen shortstops they’ve got (including top prospects Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriquez) and I’d say the Angels are well stocked for a trade.
See you in a few months, Joe.
