Internet Royalties/Tariffs plus Response to Billy Bragg article New York Times

Aricle referred to in this post
The Royalty Scam
By BILLY BRAGG
Published: March 22, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/opinion/22bragg.html?_r=1&ex=1206849600&en=da03&oref=slogin

Response to post regarding tariffs for internet uses of music
(original email)
Can someone please tell me just what is SO wrong with successful musicians being paid what they are legally entitled to? And if there is resentment to Brian Adams or Celine Dion collecting royalties then where is the cut off point? Don't get me wrong. I am not an unbridled capitalist and I DO believe in limits to profits, but until society decides to change how we reward the successful among us what is wrong with paying their due?Wouldn't you be pleased with a multi-million selling album?

Roadstar replies, and further comments on the Billy Bragg aritcle

I think that an important point here is that things are stacked in favor of Bryan Adams and Celine Dion. They have the marketing machine to create the million sellers (the major radio stations etc etc...), and the legal infrastructures to make sure they get every red cent. So it's a rich get richer picture. In a purely theoretical sense, no it's not wrong for them to be cashing in (unless you want to get into moral issues), but in terms of the cultural big picture, we have to focus on ways to make the small fish, the working career artist, their 2 cents. The tariffs are a start at an idea, but questions about the distribution of royalties from the tariffs still continues to be unanswered. We can't even get it together to make sure that we get our few cents per play for internet and non-commercial radio, and yet we have a pie in the sky dream about internet download royalties. If we directed our attention towards things we *can* control...like "pay per play" radio tracking and royalty distribution for internet radio and all non-commercial radio, we would be way way ahead. Given the state of tracking technology there isn't a single reason in the world why this airplay should not be tracked and compensated, just like it is with the majors. Despite all of the "new deals", NOTHING has changed for us in this area.

This is one thing Billy Bragg misses in this article:http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/22/opinion/22bragg.html?_r=1&ex=1206849600&en=da03&oref=slogin

He cites that radio does pay..well the fact is that the majority of radio does NOT pay. We all get some CBC airplay but most of us are getting non-commercial, college and internet radio airplay which does not pay. Stations pay tariffs knowing that little to none of the money they are paying goes to any of the artists that they are playing. The steep proposed internet radio tariff were prohibitive and counter productive, but we have to work harder in this area. It has to become a new income for all of us! The majors are doing fine, and hence Celine and Bryan, but for us, nothing has changed.Braggs' article points to the "new uses" of our music and the need for compensation. All the industry dudes are telling us to stop fighting and "give our music away", showing us graphs with dollar signs above "licensing" "royalties"...etc...all of these apparent benefits that we'll get. This only leads to more of what Braggs talks about...the only ones getting rich are them...and the internet companies like Bebo Myspace etc. These $$ signs are not happening! If it's happening for a few, great, but for the rest of the cultural fabric, *us*, it just ain't working. But we continue to believe in the myth because at this point we don't have options. I have 6 tunes being played on myspace the same as everyone else, and I love myspace for other reasons.

New uses of music have been cited as the things we should give away, but in reality, they are the ONLY uses of our music these days (exaggeration for emphasis) and hence the ones that have to start paying 2 cents into our paypal accounts. It all adds up, and if the technology is there to get the banks 2 cent 100 zillion times, the technology exists to get us our 2 cents, to help with our measly musician incomes.

More interesting reading for y'all: http://www.mediafuturist.com/blog.html

A "new use" of our music worth discussing: http://www.fliptech.com/ (a cdbaby opt-in digital service)