The lame-duck Congress wouldn't pull a fast one on radio would they? The NAB is not so sure. National Association of Broadcasters EVP Dennis Wharton says "NAB is watching the waning days of the lame-duck very closely to guard against a dark-of-night attempt to pass the bill." "The bill" is HR 848, the Performance Rights Act. PRA was first brought up in the House when this Congress met in February 2009. There now appears to be movement and new sponsors signing on. The bill would "establish equitable treatment for terrestrial, cable, satellite and internet services" related to a performer's royalty, something terrestrial radio has been exempt from. What's being fought is Congress legislating such a bill and allowing the Copyright Royalty Board to set the rates, something the CRB has already set for websites, covering 2011 - 2015...
The new CRB rates cover streamers that weren't covered under one of the various agreements negotiated last year. Deals were reached last year between SoundExchange and the NAB, small webcasters (based on revenue), NPR (via The Corporation for Public Broadcasting) and a group of pureplay streamers that include Pandora. Each performance (one song streamed to one listener) will pay $.0019 per-performance in 2011, graduating to $.0023 in 2015. Non-commercial streamers get a $500 minimum per channel, plus performance rates that begin after 159,140 aggregate tuning hours in a given month. The rates will range from $.0017 per-performance in 2011 to $.0025 in 2015...
I'm not a big fan of royalties to begin with, but there is one benefit from all of this nonsense. There will be lots of jobs available for accountants who consult their local radio station...
10 Timeline Memories:
1.1773] Tea it up: The Boston Tea Party takes place as American colonists board a British ship and dump more than 300 chests of tea in Boston Harbor to protest tea taxes. This might explain why the water in Boston Harbor is described as “orange pekoe with specks of green tea and chamomile” in color…
2.1905] Published on this date: Variety Magazine hits the newsstands to ‘Boffo’! reviews. Not so 'Boffo' now, Variety has new ownership...
3.1960] Staten Island Supercrash: A United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, killing 134…
4.1972] Unbeaten and Untied: The Miami Dolphins become the 1st NFL team to go unbeaten and untied in a 14-game regular season. The 2007 Patriots beat that record, going 18-0. Miami’s season streak reaches 17 after they win the Super Bowl…
5.1973] Slice and dice: Buffalo’s O.J. Simpson knifes his way through the NFL to become the 1st runner in history to gain over 2,000 yards in a season when he runs for 200 yards against the Jets. Jet coach Weeb Ewbank loses his lunch and then announces his retirement…
6.1982] Reborn: Tom Seaver becomes a Met again after a trade with Cincinnati. The ‘Franchise’ throws the last pitch at Shea Stadium to Mike Piazza…1983] Yogi Berra is named Yankee manager for the second time...
7.1985] The steak was cold, too: Organized crime chief Paul Castellano is gunned down outside Sparks Steakhouse on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan as he’s set up by the mob…
8.1997] “Happy Trails“: Singer Nicolette Larson dies from brain swelling at 45…2007] Singer Dan Fogelberg passes away at 56 from complications caused by prostate cancer…
9.1998] Desert Fox: The U.S. and Britain begin a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets, in response to Iraq’s continued failure to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions as well as their interference with U.N. Special Commission inspectors…
10.2000] Breaking the color barrier: President-elect George W. Bush selects Colin Powell to be the 1st African-American secretary of state…
Music Memories:
- 1964] Number One on this date: "Come See About Me" - Supremes...1986] "Walk Like An Egyptian" - Bangles...1987] "Faith" - George Michael...
Commentary:
Legendary Hall of Fame Pitcher, Bob Feller passed away last night from acute leukemia at the age of 92. Feller's career began with the Cleveland Indians at the age of 17. He would spend 18 seasons with Cleveland, the only team he ever played for. This video contains highlights of his great career...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":
Benjamin Bratt (47), Benny (ABBA) Andersson (64), Steven Bochco (67), Lesley Stahl (69) & Liv Ullmann (72)...
Timeline Countdown: 5 days until winter, 6 days until Festivus, 9 days until Christmas, 15 nights until New Year's Eve and 23 days until the NFL Wild Card Playoffs...
