RIAA Seeks Royalties From Radio

[BJ_M]

"First it was Napster; then it was Internet radio; then it was little girls, grandmothers, and dead people. But now our friends at the RIAA are going decidedly low-tech. The LA Times reports that the RIAA wants royalties from radio stations. 70 years ago Congress exempted radio stations from paying royalties to performers and labels because radio helps sell music. But since the labels that make up the RIAA are not getting the cash they desire through sales of CDs, and since Internet and satellite broadcasters are forced to cough up cash to their racket, now the RIAA wants terrestrial radio to pay up as well."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-fi-radio21may21,1,1028211.story?...business-enter

[guns1inger]

So the radio stations will stop playing artists who don't bring in listeners - why pay for something no-one wants - and the studios will have to pay the radio stations to play new artists. They could call it payolla. . . . . . . . . .

[SquirrelDip]

But radio DOES help sell music. IMO, radio would be their biggest advertiser.

More and more people are saying "**** You" to the RIAA, at some point the levee has to break and the RIAA will die a painful death.

[gll99]

I just saw an article saying that even Doctor's offices, retail and non retail businesses, restaurants etc.. who play background music would need to pay also. One local businessman said he was already paying a regular fee for playing background radio tunes which customers listened to while in the waiting areas. If it turns out that the radio stations have to pay to broadcast the music (the performance) to their audience. The store, doctor etc... are not rebroadcasting, they are just playing something already paid for by the radio station. Something is amiss. How will they be able to collect again from the "audience"? Seems like double dipping.

[thecoalman]

<in Mr. Burns Voice> Excellent!

Give the indy artists a chance to get their music played.

[Lucifers_Ghost]

Ugh .. this is getting just a weeeeee bit insane.

Of course, this will never ever happen. But just to know that they have a stones to even bring something like this up, which will in turn waste time and money going through the court system.

Ugh ...

[Dv8ted2]

This is just another blatant example of a organization that is not getting their way so they are trying a money grab.

I guess getting busted for price fixing and pulling figures out of thin air was not enough for them.

The industry tried to do away with dual cassette deck stereo systems because it would be the death of western civilization and now this.

I am waiting for this dinosaur to fall over.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

The RIAA will start to put undercover agents on the streets in order to pursuit royalties from people that sing or hum while walking or at bus stops.

RIAA MOTTO: WE GOT OUR EARS ON YA!!!! WE'RE LISTENING!!!!, YOU BETTER PAY BIATCH!!!!

[SquirrelDip]

The RIAA will start to put undercover agents on the streets in order to pursuit royalties from people that sing or hum while walking or at bus stops.

RIAA MOTTO: WE GOT OUR EARS ON YA!!!! WE'RE LISTENING!!!!, YOU BETTER PAY BIATCH!!!!

This is beginning to not sound so far fetched... Humming is a form of public broadcast isn't it?!?!?