Webcasters Stand Firm

Deal With Us In Good Faith or No Deal!

    SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Thousands of
 webcasters stand firm by rejecting the most recent Copyright Royalty Rate
 (CRB) proposal made by SoundExchange. The latest take it or leave it
 "offer" made by SoundExchange on behalf of the recording industry has done
 nothing to further negotiations with webcasters, and a mere 24 small
 webcasters have felt they had no choice but to give in to the record
 labels' demands.
     "The latest proposal made by SoundExchange is extremely disappointing,
 at a time where we need real progress, not hollow tricks," SaveNetRadio
 spokesperson Jake Ward said. "While the clock continues to tick for
 webcasters, SoundExchange continues to play games with their good faith.
 The resounding rejection of this offer should serve as a reminder to
 SoundExchange, and to Congress, that the webcasting community is intent on
 a lasting and fair resolution to this issue, and willing to fight for it."
     We, the undersigned have made it very clear to the SoundExchange
 exactly why this latest offer is unrealistic and unacceptable. Its terms
 are not viable for webcasters seeking to run profitable businesses. One
 such term is the newly added Aggregate Tuning Hour (ATH) cap which
 immediately makes many mid-level webcasters ineligible for the recently
 presented agreement. For stations with revenues far below the $1.25 million
 cap, but with healthy listener bases, this ATH cap forces payments at the
 CRB rates.
     This deal is not feasible for anyone who wants to grow their business.
 It contains the aforementioned $1.25 million revenue cap, which limits
 growth and puts in place a dangerously low hard ceiling for revenue
 generation. The Small Business Administration revenue cap for over-the-air
 broadcasters to be considered a small business is $6.5 million -- this
 would seem a fair cap, with precedent.
     Also, the offer only covers copyright holders that are SoundExchange
 members, of which there are approximately 20,000. Between us, the
 undersigned webcasters played far more artists than that in the last year.
 Under the SoundExchange offer for artists not on that limited roster,
 webcasters would have to pay at the bankruptcy-level rates, which were set
 in the fatally flawed Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) ruling in March. Those
 CRB rates were condemned by webcasters, the press and members of Congress
 and deemed as wildly out of line and detrimental to all parties concerned
 -- including the RIAA.
     We have asked for a reasonable, long-term solution, not one that is
 subject to increase at the whim of the record industry every five years.
 2010 is little more than 2 years away, and it would be difficult for any
 business owner to accurately forecast profits and build a successful
 business model with a huge expense variable looming in the future.
     Although several of the webcasters listed below are currently involved
 in direct negotiations with SoundExchange, the process remains exceedingly
 slow and increasingly unpromising. In the continuing absence of a genuine
 offer that would allow internet radio to continue to be the vital medium
 for new music discovery we implore our listeners and fans of internet radio
 to continue to urge your legislative representatives to pass the Internet
 Radio Equality Act (HR2060, S.1353).
     For information on how you can contact your representative, please
 visit http://www.savenetradio.org.
     Signed:
 
     Jeff Bachmeier, .977
     Val Starr, GotRadio.com, 100hitz.com
     Rusty Hodge, Somafm.com
     Rick White, BigR Radio. 1faith.fm
     Donnie Mowbray, 181.fm
     Kurt Hanson, AccuRadio
     Dave Landis, Ultimate 80's
     Bill Goldsmith, Radio Paradise
     Ted Leibowitz, BagelRadio
     Sal Amato, Dot1media
     Brandon Casci, Loud City
     Jim & Wanda Atkinson, 3WK
     Ari Shopat, Digitally Imported
     Mike Roe, Radio IO
 
 

SOURCE SaveNetRadio