BerkeleyBob

Apple, Amazon Pleased with Music Royalties Ruling

Good, clear coverage of a complex issue. Historically, the recording industry (RIAA) gave up performance (as opposed to mechanical) royalties for radio broadcast (at the time, terrestial radio) because the exposure would indirectly benefit sales. (ie., hear the hit on the radio for free and buy the record or sheet music to generate revenue). The NAB lobbied very hard to make sure that internet and satellite radio were not given a similar break, thus the prolonged delay by the FCC in approving Sirius/XM radio merger. None of these machinations have done much to improve the lot of the performing musician, although most professionals now are aware of the value of publishing rights. (The labels often engaged in phony accounting or simply stole mechanical royalties, and some major pop acts were not above stealing material from the often obscure originators.) The internet and satellite radio services are crucial to exposure to niche performers and listeners and the problem of fairly compensating artists (also known as content providers) is very complicated indeed. After all, no one is making large dollars from posting on web sites such as this one, right?