The federal government is intent on killing off internet radio and I feel fine?
I’m not sure EXACTLY how to feel about this, but the Federal government is continuing its ignorant assault on the fledgling business of internet radio. My first reaction is the obvious one… this is bad, very bad. The RIAA and CARP royalty scams were one of the main reasons I gave up on webcasting last year. The Feds just seem too intent on siding with the dying hulk of an institution that is the RIAA and killing off new and exciting businesses like Radio Paradise. From looking at this you would think that the government simply hates innovative radio.
But then I thought… is this really as bad as all that? Perhaps this adversity is the exact thing the medium of internet radio needs to push it over the top. I realize that this ruling effectively ends (at least temporarily) internet radio as a profit making enterprise. It will most definitely kill off most of the field (the ones that exist to make profit)… but the ones that are left, the ones who skirt the RIAA by playing non-RIAA protected, alternatively licensed music, will thrive. In turn the artists who go the independent route and stay far away from the RIAA cabal will find increased exposure through these RIAA-free playlists. Internet radio will be reborn as the center of a new wave of hip and independent cultural cache. Artists will chase independent play the same way they chased major labels in the 20th century and at some point advertisers will follow.
So cheer up… things are bad, but things are not dead. The RIAA is slowly eating itself and soon every artist worth listening to will realize this. Before long we’ll see the explosion of reasonable alternative licensing frameworks (like Creative Commons) and it will seem unthinkable that the next big thing will be attracted to the serfdom that was the TwenCen music industry.
(OK… your still concerned. Me too. Luckily there are things you can do. Check out http://saveourinternetradio.com — they have a lot of good ideas for fighting the beast that is the RIAA)
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