The Wires: Day of Silence Edition (June 28, 2007)

Bridge Ratings: Bridge Ratings has published a report that shows what the impact of Internet Radio’s “Day of Silence” actually had on its audience. The first release of data related to yesterday’s Internet radio listenership shows a significant reduction in the number of listeners to Internet Radio. The first charts of the data are online at www.bridgeratings.com.

Excerpts: Bridge’s national sample of 3,000 persons 13+ was first asked if they normally listen to Internet radio in a typical week -- 21% of the respondents said they did. Bridge also queried its randomly dialed telephone sample as to whether they listened to Internet radio on Tuesday and 45% of the respondents said they did, while 55% said they hadn't. Finally, Bridge says that 72% of the respondents stated that they tuned to an Internet radio station Tuesday that was streaming while 23% didn't listen to Internet radio that day.

Free Press: Dark Payola Emerges. Economics over artistic merit is a recipe for payola — which is where labels pay radio stations to spin their music. It’s illegal. But a new form of payola has been detected. It is the exact opposite of payola, but with all the same effects — forcing radio audiences to listen to the garbage labels want them to hear. It’s dark payola. The increased royalties set by the Copyright Royalty Board on March 2 came with a distinct catch. Webcasters are free to ink direct licensing deals with labels for a lower rate than the one set by the board. Direct licensing allows major labels to apply economic pressure to Webcasters who were formerly concerned with playing the best music. If Net radio stations don’t win their fight, playing whatever they want will become prohibitively expensive. Playing crap, however, won’t be. Under the new rules it would be economically logical for cash-strapped Webcasters to take discounted rates to play music the labels want them to play. Instead of the labels paying the Webcasters, the Webcasters pay the labels less. Dark payola. Evidence of this practice has already appeared with the launch of Slacker.com. The Internet radio startup has stated in the press that it made direct license deals with the majors that have saved it the hassle of paying higher royalties. Think you love terrestrial radio now? Wait till Britney Spears really is the cheapest thing to play. Read the rest of the story at the link above.

Free Press: Roylaties Worry Local Radio Stations. A recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington could make Internet radio the shortest-lived revolution in technology since the Laserdisc, and in the process undo years of advances by several local noncommercial radio stations.

Free Press: Don't Silence Us. Artists like us should be compensated for creative works. This is vital to the way independent artists make a living. But royalties should be collected at fair rates -- certainly not at rates that would bankrupt Internet radio stations.

Free Press: Internet Radio Holds Its Breath. Internet radio listeners looking forward to another day of their favorite music Tuesday found only silence on many stations, as webcasters nationwide observed a day of silence to call attention to the crisis currently facing Internet radio.

Free Press: Yahoo Turns Off The Radio. A "day of silence" has swept across the bandwidth of a number of music webcasting services as they protest new royalty rates that could put them out of business for good.

Free Press: Radio Silence Protests Fee Plan. Radio stations and music broadcasters are warning that a plan to sharply increase the royalties paid for online broadcasts could silence much of Internet radio.

Free Press: Webcasters Protest with Silent Treatment. Thousands of Internet radio streams will go silent today in protest of new music royalty rates that webcasters say could drive almost all of them out of business.

Free Press: Web Radio Going Silent. "Webcasters," as Internet radio broadcasters are known, are going silent today to protest a decision by a government royalties board that they say will put them out of business July 15.

Free Press: 'Day of Silence' Makes Noise on the 'Net. Online listeners who tried to go to their favorite music sites and public radio stations likely found messages to call their representatives in Congress to block the new rates, and — as SaveNetRadio.org said — "preserve music diversity on-line."

Free Press: U.S. Web Radio Stations Silently Protest Royalty Hike. Thousands of U.S. Internet radio stations held a "day of silence" on Tuesday to protest an increase in performance royalties paid to musicians and record companies that they warn could kill the fledgling industry.

Free Press: Tiny Web Radio Stations Squawk Over Royalty Fees. Internet radio DJs are replacing their eclectic playlists with a "day of silence" today, a protest against new royalty rates they say could decimate the fledgling digital broadcasting industry.

Free Press: Web Radio Stations Hope Silence Speaks Volumes About Fee Hike. Many Web-based music services and some conventional radio stations that offer Internet audio streams shut off their online music and programming yesterday. Organizers are calling it the "day of silence."

Free Press: A Kind of Hush All Over Web Radio. Thousands of Internet radio stations will stop the music today for the National Day of Silence, a nationwide protest of an impending increase in royalty rates that could dramatically impact the country's Internet radio industry.

Free Press: Internet Radio Stations Tune Out in Protest. Internet broadcasters around the country, including some public and commercial radio stations, are observing a "day of silence" to protest and publicize increases in the fees they pay record companies and artists for playing songs.

The Wires: Internet Day of Silence Edition (Jun 26, 2007)

John Gorman: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Internet radio’s Day of Silence. Most, but not all, Internet radio streams will be mute ... After World War II, when some radio stations first played recorded music, the labels protested, contending that if recorded music could be heard for free, no one would buy it. There was even an ephemeral flap about music being played on FM since that frequency could broadcast music in cleaner fidelity - and in stereo! That protest ended abruptly with the advent of the album rock format. The labels realized that they now had a frequency that could sell big records with small holes to the masses. Labels have a history of challenging and being hostile toward new technology

Post-Gazette: Thousands of webcasters across the country plan to pull the plug on Tuesday. One of the nation's largest -- Live 365 -- will shut down the 10,000 channels of varied music programming it carries. "By joining together with all other Internet radio stations, Live 365 will show them what they can look forward to if things don't change quickly: silence." Webcasters such as AccuRadio, Rhapsody, Pandora, Yahoo Music and MTV Online also plan to go silent, while some stations will air public-service announcements on the campaign (read more - Adrian McCoy - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

Kurt Hanson: While thousands of webcasters put the finishing touches on their plans for tomorrow's "Day of Silence", we've prepared a guide for station operators and media alike to get a "big picture" look at tomorrow's event, covering topics such as when the event begins to where to direct listener support, find PSAs, and more. Read the full guide, which will be updated frequently throughout the day, in today's issue at: http://www.kurthanson.com.

Some groups sitting out the "Internet Day of Silence." The radio industry's not entirely convinced tomorrow's online protest is the best way to raise concerns about higher royalty rates. Lincoln Financial is particiapting. CBS isn't. Another large group's internet chief says "we're not convinced that we want to throw another wrench in the works when listeners are having a hard enough time listening to our stations online."