Grateful Dead

Money talks and bullshit walks but;let's not kill the goddamn goose.... I think Hunter put something like this; I had a steady job Hauling items for the mob I had a steady job Hauling items for the mob Y'know the pay was pathetic It's a shame those boys couldn't be more copacetic

As some may be aware, Internet radio in general and homegrown Internet radio in particular stand to be wiped out by somewhat draconian, federally mandated (at the behest of RIAA, natch) royalties. MusicFIRST, from what I've read, appears to be simply an attempt to level the playing field and end the free ride broadcast radio has had on this front from time immemorial, claiming it should get the stuff for free because it was giving such a great boost to the artists' careers. (Artists frequently beg to differ.) There are, of course, many back-stories, from payola to rigidly formatted radio, but as far as I can tell, Bobby and Mickey are perfectly correct in saying that if Internet radio has to pay these royalties, so should broadcast radio. I'm very much in favor of artists getting compensated for their work. I think the royalty scheme currently directed at Internet radio is more or less intended to stamp it out because nobody but the deep-pocketed incumbents could afford it. Thus it is a matter of some urgency to get the large broadcast corporations that have been getting a free ride since Marconi to pay the same as the garage podcast guys, at least. (Disclaimer: one of my clients is a large broadcast media company. But they don't play music.)

At KoHoSo's suggestion, a topic to discuss all things MusicFirst.