Pandora Founder Appeals For Help To "Save Internet Radio"
Tim Westergren, founder of Internet radio station Pandora, has sent out a letter to an unknown number of people asking for help about licensing fees. Specifically this relates to "a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora."
We don't know the full details of the issue, but as an innovative web service that we appreciate and have covered a few times before, we thought we'd share Tim Westergren's concerns with you. If you agree with Tim, by all means sign his petition. See also Gizmodo's article on this issue. Here is the letter in its entirety:
"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) "
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Sad..
Why do these guys have to go out of business? I'll gladly pay $0.008 per song, if that will keep Pandora and the likes alive.
That works out to like 5 cents per hour (!). I'm pretty sure I can afford that. No $15 subscriptions, though, just fractions of a cent per song. When I use it.
I'd hate to see them go away, and they don't have to if they just charge the right price!
I note the petition is for US residents only and as this is US legislation that makes sense however this affects more than just US listeners.
Is it possible for Pandora and other to just setup in another country or does this legislation cover all streaming no matter what country it is from?
Great question Ross, I often wonder why the US laws seem to govern so much of what happens on the Internet (esp with media, music, video, etc). I guess it's because the US is the key market, but still it's nuts the US legislators have so much impact on the WORLD wide web.
RE: US IP right domination
The US (through the WTO, I think) lobbies to harmonize IP laws and the like throughout the rest of the world. So any legislation brought in the US eventually finds itself in a similar act elsewhere.
I'd strongly urge everyone to support Pandora's petition. I'm a musician, and by far the most supportive outlets for my music have been internet radio stations. Almost all of these stations are pure labors of love -- they don't sell advertising, they don't get any income whatsoever, and the costs of equipment and everything else are all out-of-pocket. Now they're being asked to pay an additional fee (at least a few hundred dollars a year, but possibly much, much more) for the "right" to play MY music! I'm not a member of the RIAA, so the RIAA has no right to charge anyone for the use of my music. The money that they pocket from the Copyright Royalty Board's decisions will go into their pockets, not mine. It's yet another corporate swindle from start to finish.
Keep in mind that many of the corporations that are supporting the CRB's decision are the same ones that oppose Net Neutrality. It's the same old story: squash the little guy so that the big guys can dominate the marketplace. 'nuf said!
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I received Tim's plea, but not being a USA resident is there anything I can do? I can't sign the petition.
I'm all for sites like Pandora promoting music. Is it necessary to stamp out every free initiative?
This is nothing but an attempt to exterminate Internet Radio -- at least State-side.
It there nothing more irrational and destructive than the proposed cost-structure of these fees -- particularly in relation to what the competition (i.e. cable and broadcast have to pay?