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Wednesday, June 19,
2007
Old Media, New Media and the Democratizing Potential of the Internet
Editorial
by Robert Spicer, Adjunct Professor of Communication at Millersville
University
 When a new
medium is introduced the reaction of the old media is to attempt to
destroy it rather than adapt to it. This was the film industry’s
reaction to movie rentals in the mid 80s. Today it is how the
recording and broadcast industries
are reacting to
Internet radio. Earlier this year the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB)
decided that Internet radio stations should pay record labels a fee
per song played rather than a percentage of revenue made by the
station.
This decision is
nothing short of a threat to the democratizing potential of the
Internet.
According to
Congressman Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), the decision by the CRB “amounts to
a 300 percent cost increase for the largest webcasters and up to a
1200 percent increase for smaller operations.” Additionally, the fee
change would be retroactive, piling on a cost to Internet radio
stations that would cause them to have to shut down.
In response to this
threat, Inslee has introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act (IREA).
This legislation, cosponsored by Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), would return
Internet radio stations to a flat fee of 7.5% and would protect their
financial viability. The problem is that the changes proposed by the
CRB are set to go into effect on July 15th, leaving very little time
for congress to act. If the IREA is not passed before July 15th many
Internet radio stations will be forced to shut down immediately.
A wide range of
groups and individuals will be affected by this change. First are the
listeners. Internet radio provides an outlet to discover new music
that is not being given airtime on terrestrial radio. Which brings us
to the artists. While old media and major record labels continue to
churn out carbon copies of last year’s best sellers, Internet radio
provides a platform for listeners to discover new, original artists
who are trying to do something different. It also gives the artists a
way to reach new audiences.
These changes would
also have an effect on people who work in not for profit radio like
public broadcasting and college stations. Many of these stations have
web streams in addition to their traditional broadcast signals. They
would be forced to shut down those streams immediately on July 15th.
This issue goes well
beyond just the changing ways in which we listen to music. This is one
battle in the war between new and old media. The new medium of the
Internet allows individual artists to thrive without needing the
support of big record labels and radio conglomerates. In the same way
that political blogs give individuals a platform for their opinions,
Internet radio gives us a medium for us to reach listeners through our
art or support the artists we love by playing their music.
There are a few
things you can do to help protect Internet radio. First, you can learn
more about the issue by visiting savenetradio.org. This website is a
wealth of information about Internet radio stations, the SaveNetRadio
coalition, and which members of congress are cosponsoring the IREA.
Second, you can check out Internet radio stations and support them by
donating to your favorites. I recommend checking out Etherbeat.com for
great jazz, Pandora.com for a station that you program for yourself
and KCRW for a variety of NPR content.
Finally, and most
importantly, call your congressional representative and tell him or
her to support the IREA. The bill currently has 115 cosponsors in the
house and only three in the senate. The changes of the CRB go into
effect on July 15. We need congress to act now to stop them for the
sake of the listeners, the artists and the Internet, as we know it.
comment on this news item...
Robert Spicer is an
adjunct professor of communication at Millersville University and the
author of
http://rspicer.blogspot.com/.
Sources:
Anderson, Nate.
(2007). Internet Radio Equality Act would overturn decision on
webcasting fees. Retrieved on 11 Jun 2007 from
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070427-internet-radio-equality-act-would-overturn-decision-on-webcasting-fees.html
Inslee, Jay. (2007).
Lawmakers hope to prevent demise of Internet radio. Retrieved on 11
June 2007 from
http://www.house.gov/inslee/issues/technology/saving_internet_radio.html
Roberson, Amy.
(2007). Congress' war on 'net radio. Retrieved 14 June 2007 from "http://media.www.dailytitan.com/media/storage/paper861/news/2007/06/14/Opinion/Congress.War.On.net.Radio-2915009.shtml"
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