FUCK the Internet Radio Fairness Act

(Copied from my Tumblr)

Just read about the Internet Radio Fairness Act, um, allow me to say, FUCK NO!!

http://internetradiofairness.com/legislation/ - this is from the people who are supporting it (you can also read the Summary & Text of the proposed legislation there)

These are the people supporting it:http://internetradiofairness.com/about-us/

VERY NOTABLE is the inclusion of Pandora

According to these folks, the IRFA will:

Give consumers more choices and more robust products for listening to the music they love;

Enable artists to earn increasingly more money as Internet radio grows and to better connect with their fans to market their music, merchandise and tours;

Create a sustainable digital marketplace that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to start new services and invest in new, innovative ways to deliver music to the public, and;

Drive higher revenues for the record labels themselves.

point 1 - Give consumers more choices and more robust products??  Consumers have never had so much choice about where/how to get their music … you can listen to almost any music for free at will at any time you want … consumer choice is NOT a problem in the music industry right now

point 2  - Internet Radio is not a bad thing, but more of it is not going to be some magical panacea where artists connect with their fans better.  It will eventually reach a point of diminishing returns (this second sentence is my opinion)

point 3 - There is more and  more Internet Radio everyday … could their profits be higher?  Yes!  Would this be a good thing for them & possibly artists too? Yes!  Is the inability to create new tech  startups a problem in the music industry right now? NO

point 4 - That depends on which version of the bill we’re talking about … Also, it bears the same problems of: Does that money get used in ways that are fair & beneficial to Artists.  Also, what about Independent Artists?

This article is worth reading, and aligns well with my feelings on the Bills: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/243769-musicians-lose-out-in-internet-radio-fairness-act

“Westergren is absolutely correct that it’s unfair that Pandora pays artists while AM/FM radio doesn’t; but that disparity doesn’t mean that everyone should pay artists less. And Westergren’s claim that Pandora cannot afford to pay artists fairly doesn’t add up either. The company just completed a wildly profitable IPO, has an explosive user base, maintains one of the world’s most-recognizable music brands, and remains the industry leader.

Moreover, paying royalties to musicians isn’t stopping new Internet companies from entering the market, as Westergren argues. The Internet radio market has grown 33 percent over the past five years. Westergren suggests that artists would actually earn more if Internet radio stations paid them less, because there would be more Internet radio stations. To me, it sounds more like a clever way for Pandora to make billions in profits by cheating artists out of their fair share of the internet radio revenue pie.   Excuse me for being cynical about that kind of thing – it’s a tough business”