Saturday, December 22, 2007

enjoy a safe season...

Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie. 1995 tour. "Hurt". Amazing.

...inflatable penguins, anyone?
Love and Peace, Clarence

, , , ,

Friday, November 16, 2007

OlioRadio: No Xmas Music So Far!

Got new stuff! OlioRadio has a new playlist for your dining and dancing pleasure. And what Artistes have been added to the All Genres! All Eras! All The Time! station? Well, here ya go: 1880 - Aaron Neville - Barry White - Ben Selvin and His Orchestra - Bert Kampfert and His Orchestra - Billy Murray - Bing Crosby - David Byrne - Diesel Boy - Ed Smallie - Hagfish - Irma Thomas and Marcia Ball - Iron Maiden - Les Paul Trio - Peerless Quartet - Robert Palmer - Robin Trower - Roy Orbison - Scrapper Blackwell - Some More than Others - Texas Tornados - The Amos Garrett-Doug Sahm-Gene Taylor Band - The Orlons - The Pyramids - and Travoltas. Enjoy!
Love and Peace, Clarence

Saturday, November 10, 2007

In 1959, three brothers who had first worked together over 40 years earlier did so for the last time. Leonard, Adolph, and Julius Marx( aka Chico, Harpo, and Groucho) performed in a tv pilot, "Deputy Seraph". The plot had Chico and Harpo as angels, with Groucho as their supervisor. The pilot could not be finished because no insurance company would cover Chico due to his heart trouble.
I'm as big a Marx Brothers fan as anyone, but I never thought that I would ever see even one frame of "Deputy Seraph". The film-to-video transfer isn't great, the film itself probably is/was falling apart, and then it had to be converted to Flash. Thank You to everyone who helped make this unfinished work availible. It's one last look at the Marxes before time took them away.

"Deputy Seraph" part 1:

"Deputy Seraph part 2:

Love & Peace, Clarence

Monday, November 5, 2007

OlioRadio Keeps on Keepin' on...

Thanks to an anonymous donor, OlioRadio WILL continue for at least one more year. I cannot express my appreciation to them & to the entire Live365 Webcasting Communityfor the support & love shown to me.
You folks are the best!
Love & Peace, Clarence

Friday, November 2, 2007

it's goodbye to Love...

On January 2, 2008, OlioRadio will be closed. Major budget stresses are too strong for me to be able to re-up when my present package runs out.

After nearly 6 years here, there's no way to express the depth of my feelings. I can only say Thank You to the Musicians who created the recordings I've played. Your style & talent are amazing, & I'm honored to have extended your reach in a small way. Also Thanks to my Listeners who have put up with mega-bizarro sets, badly-prepped tracks, & all the other. I thought that there were folks elsewhere in the world who would enjoy music & other recordings from early Sousa marches to the newest IndiePop; y'all proved it.

All at Live365, past & present, deserve all our praise. The dedication & good humor of the employees of Live365 has always amazed & delighted me. You are a Class Act, & I know that greater success is coming.

I don't know what to say to this Community of Webcasters. I'd list everybody I want to single out, but I doubt that the board's software can take a multi-page post. lol Paraphrasing The Duke: I Love You Madly. And I will miss you so much.

Until Jan. 2, OlioRadio will still be pumping out the ones & zeros of over 100 years of recordings.

Y'know they say that the phrase "May you live in interesting times" is a curse...it's been a Joy for me.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Saturday, October 27, 2007

OlioRadio adds Cool Music to Playlist

Want some new sounds? Some new old sounds? Some new sounds that sound new? Some... ok, whatever you want you'll hear it in the new playlist at OlioRadio! Recorded goodies from several countries, one hundred years, and too many styles to count.
So who are these newly-added Artistes? They go by the names of: Anti-Flag - Bassholes - Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen - Dave Davies (yay!) - De Musikalske Dvergene & Frode Alnæs (yep) - Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler - Dinah Shore - Dock Boggs - Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Foo Fighters - Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers - Geraldine Farrar - Giocomo Puccini - Iggy and The Stooges - John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers - Judy Garland - Les Brown and His Band of Renown (vocal by Doris Day) - Matera Electronics - Mono in VCF - Nirvana - Paperboy Jack - Penny Century - Pink Floyd - Ronny Graham and Cast - Schlitz Singers - Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - Sixteens - Steve Porter - Th' Legendary Shack Shakers - The Allman Brothers Band - The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Vess Ossman - and White Witch (YAY!!).
OlioRadio delivers more variety in an hour than any other station plays in a week! Give OlioRadio a listen.
Love and Peace, Clarence

Monday, October 8, 2007

It's now Mandatory to provide Customers with Ear Plugs

The UK's Performing Rights Society has sued a Scottish chain of auto repair shops for 200,000 pounds, claiming that customers may have heard music coming from employee-owned radios & that therefore the chain owes that amount in rights fees.
(Thx to The Infinite Dial blog for the info)
link: http://www.infinitedial.com/2007/10/music_licensing_plumbs_orwelli.php

Remember: Don't Think!! Someone may object to a thought you could have had...
Love & Peace, Clarence

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Flash! Leaves trigger new songs on OlioRadio!

Fall has come to our planet's northern hemisphere, so here's a new playlist on OlioRadio! Amongst these tracks are things old, new, borrowed, and blue.
And whose tracks have been added for your dining and dancing pleasure? Well, lemme tell ya: Abe Lyman and His California Orchestra - Announcer for the Radio and Television Institute of Chicago - Beryl Marsden - Big Town Boys - Black Oak Arkansas - Bobby Darin - Bruce Springsteen - Camera Obscura - Canned Heat - Captain Beefheart - Catalinas - CB - Claudine Longet - Dobie Red and Group - Dwight Yokam - Espers - Fleetwood Mac - Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Fritz Kreisler - George Olsen and His Music - Gleb Ivanov - Glenn Miller and His Orchestra - Great Scots - Haydn Quartet - Henry Doktorski - Jack Hart with Sam Lanin's Orchestra - James Iron Head Baker - Jimmy Ruffin - John Hiatt - John Lennon - Manfred Mann - Max Roach - Nat Shilkret and the Victor Orchestra - Nine Inch Nails - Old 97's - Otis Redding - Primus - Prince - Ronettes - Shaver - Sousa's Band - Spencer Davis Group - Stereo Total - Steve Miller Band - Stevie Wonder - The Easybeats - The Flatlanders - The Marvelettes - The Persuations - The Temptations - and Weber and Fields. A gaggle of Artistes unmatched in variety by Any station, terrestrial, internet, or gas.
Enjoy!
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, September 13, 2007

the Signe Anderson Health Fund

Signe Anderson is an original member of the band Jefferson Airplane. It's her alto voice you hear on their first album, "Jefferson Airplane Takes Off" and such tracks as 'High Flyin' Bird', 'Blues from an Airplane' and others. Today, Signe Anderson is battling cancer. And she and her family are dealing with enormous medical bills.
The Signe Anderson Health Fund has been set up at jeffersonairplane.com/signe. Click the 'Make a Donation' button to give whatever you can (all donations are through Paypal - you don't have to be registered with Paypal to give). After Paypal's transaction fees, every penny will go to Signe and her family.
Please help Signe Anderson and her family through this fight by helping to ease their financial worries. And spread the word, online and off-, about the Signe Anderson Health Fund.
http://www.jeffersonairplane.com/signe

And if you'd like an audio PSA to run in your stream, podcast, or on your website, one is availible at www.olioradio.net (scroll down to the third paragraph in the main column). Right click on the mp3 file to save it.
(Thx to 'Craig the Airplane Man' for the info)
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Fresh music for August Minds

Another wide swath of music and stuff has been added to the new playlist at OlioRadio. Familiar names mingle with the unfamiliar, and there's a six-pack of musical Coke commercials.
Artistes whose hard work has been added to the fun are: Baby Dayliner - B.J.Thomas - Box Tops - Bread - D'Cinnamons - Derek's Accent - Don Rich and the Buckaroos - Duran y Orquestra - Elton John - Erik Friedlander - Erik Richter - Esquires Ltd. - Faces - Frank Sinatra - Gary Brooker - Gaucho Gil f.Danyelle Sanders - Glen Campbell - Jack Greene - James Carr - Jim Stevens - Jimi Hendrix Experience - Lighthouse - Louis Jordan and His Tympani Five - Mandy Hutchins - Michael Tokaric - Natives of the New Dawn - Peter, Bjorn, and John - Petula Clark - Roseland Dance Orchestra - Stroke the Toad - T-Bone Walker - The American Breed - The Bob Seger System - The Brooklyn Bridge - The Bystanders - The Guess Who - The Mosquitos - The Replacements - The Savoy Orpheans - The Suburbs - The Youngbloods - Thirteenth Floor Elevators - Tom Jones - and the Victor Orchestra.
Enjoy!
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, August 2, 2007

From one of a series of specials Sid Caesar did in 1959:

You can see the beginnings of the effects of Sid's addictions. He's lost a fair amount of weight since "Your Show of Shows", & he covers himself wonderfully when he flubs a line. Sid barely has a line through most of the sketch. But, when you have a red-hot Charlton Heston (just over 2 weeks before the premiere of Ben-Hur) playing opposite you (along with Audrey Meadows & Howard Morris) there's only so much time. Heston is actually funny in the part, hamming a bit & playing the laughs well. I'm Impressed!
Love & Peace, Clarence

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Webcasters Promote Indie Music & Diversity

Here's some hard numbers from Live365 on the value of Internet Radio to Independent labels and musicians.

July 25, 2007

CONTACT:
Rod Hsiao
650-345-7400 x122
Rod[at]Live365.com

Webcasters Amp Up Independent Musicians

Foster City, CA—Live365 Inc. recently completed a study of its 2006 Internet radio broadcasts which revealed that nearly 56% of its broadcast music comes from independent artists and labels and not major record labels. This statistic underscores how Internet radio helps promote new, emerging artists while also expanding musical diversity as the AM/FM radio industry consolidates station ownership and play formats.

Mark Lam, CEO of Live365 pointed out: “Only 10-13% of AM/FM music is from independent artists and labels so we spin FIVE times as much Indie music as AM/FM. Our 10,000 DJ’s are opening up the diverse spectrum of musical genres and artists while AM/FM program formats narrow it. I see this statistic as a genuine reflection of what music DJ’s will play when the choice is driven by what people like rather than profits.”

% of Songs Broadcast on AM/FM in 2006 by Major Label Groups
Universal 31%
Sony-BMG 27%
Warner 19%
EMI 11%
Independent Labels 13%

% of Songs Broadcast on Live365 in 2006 by Major Label Groups
Universal 13%
Sony-BMG 12%
Warner 11%
EMI 8%
Independent Labels 56%

The Live365 study further showed that well over 70% of all the unique songs played were from independent artists and labels versus the four major music labels.

“Clearly, Internet radio clears away a major hurdle for musicians to be heard. With the continued double-digit growth in Internet radio listenership, hopefully more and more songwriters and musicians will be able to use Internet radio to promote their creative works and generate income. That is what Internet radio is all about: bringing together artists and fans using a ubiquitous radio medium.”

Background on Live365

Established in 1997, Live365 (www.live365.com) is the world’s largest Internet radio network that hosts nearly 10,000 stations and streams music and talk to more than 5 million listeners a month. Its mission is to make it affordable and easy for individuals to start their own radio stations and share their love for music to listeners around the world. Live365 has gone to great lengths to provide a legal and equitable means to stream music to listeners while paying royalties for the right to do so.

On March 2nd, 2007 the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) increased sound recording royalty rates which now threaten to bankrupt Internet radio stations. Live365 has joined other Internet radio companies to protest the high and inequitable royalty rates which are significantly higher than the rates levied on other radio media such as satellite or AM/FM radio. Live365 has always paid royalties to songwriters, copyright holders, and musicians and adheres to all applicable laws.

Please go to Live365.com/choice or Savenetradio.org to help keep Independent Internet Radio alive.

Love & Peace, Clarence

Saturday, July 21, 2007

OlioRadio Top 25 for June: late but good

The OlioRadio Top 25 for June is now up for your perusal at olioradio.net/top25.
Yep, it's almost August. Yep, I just haven't been able to get it posted until now. Yep, I'm sorry. I also apologize.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Remodel your listening habits with OlioRadio

If Candice Olson heard the new playlist on OlioRadio, she'd say,"How Divine.". This big update includes all of these Artistes:
Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony - Barbara Cook - Billy Joe Shaver - Black Oak Arkansas - Bob Dylan - Box Tops - Bumble Bee Slim - Capt. Glenn Miller and the Army Air Corps Training Command Orchestra - Chris Rock - Clint Black - Dan Castelleta - Elvis Costello and Glenn Tilbrook - Emmylou Harris - Gil Scott-Heron - Gram Parsons - Harry Belafonte - Hoyt Curtin and His Orchestra - Human League - Jack Lord - James Carr - James Rado, Lynn Kellogg, Melba Moore and Cast - Joe South - John Prine - Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang - Lucinda Williams - Margaret Dumont - Meat Puppets - Michael Nesmith - Mother Jones - MRDC - Murray Head - Pale Jesus - Patti Smith - Peggy Lee with Les Paul Trio - Petula Clark - Platters - Pretty Things - Robert Johnson - Sandra Black - Shirley Bassey - Sidney Bechet and His New Orleans Foot Warmers - Sister Rosetta Tharp with Lucky Millander and his Orchestra - SONIA and Disappear Fear - The Gants - The Go! Team - The New York Dolls - The Only Ones - The Replacements - The Sundays - The Tornados - Vince Guaraldi Trio - War - Willie Nelson - Woody Allen - and Wreckless Eric. Whew! what a crowd!
Remember, that's only on OlioRadio - the Home of a dozen decades of Cool Music.
Love & Peace, Clarence



Friday, July 13, 2007

Tomorrow (Saturday July 14th) OlioRadio will air a tribute program dedicated to Live365 Broadcaster Nancy McClarty, who passed away July 1. Nancy created and ran "Dimensions in Jazz", a wonderful station devoted to Jazz Artists of the 50's & 60's. Working for the Canadian Broadcasting Co. from the 60's through the 80's, Nancy retired to the western Canadian coast, where she served as Mayor of her town. She was passionate about Jazz, and poured her love for the music into "Dimensions in Jazz". Nancy was 70 when Cancer took her away too soon.
The twelve minute Tribute to Nancy McClarty program, put together by Rick, Buzz & Bryan of "Sonic Sedition" Radio, will air on OlioRadio at 2am, 6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, and 10pm US CDT. It will also run every hour from 5 am to 9 pm US PST on Nancy's station, "Dimensions in Jazz", and on a number of other Live365 stations.
Love & Peace, Clarence

SoundExchange and Webcasters in Talks

Figured you should be kept up-to-date on this, especially since you've heard so much about it lately.
As of today, Thursday July 12, a group of Internet Radio Broadcasters (including Live365) have begun negotiations with SoundExchange to lower the new royalty rates that threatened to shut down all U.S.-based Webcasters on July 15th. It's been reported that in a closed-door Congressional-led session today, SoundExchange promised not to begin collecting under the new rates, rates too high for any Webcaster to afford. SoundExchange said that they would continue to collect royalties at the old rates until a new agreement is "hammered out".
Link:
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/07/breaking-news-o.html
(much thanks to Live365 broadcaster & All-Time Good Person Betty J for alerting us to this story)

So we can all breathe again. Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of emails, calls, & letters you sent to Congress over the past few months. There is now great hope that Musicians can continue to recieve a fair Royalty for their work & Webcasters can afford to continue to play that work. This isn't an ending. No deal is finalized, nothing is set in stone. We can still use your help to keep the heat turned up on SoundExchange until a settlement is signed, sealed, & delivered. If you haven't worn your typing finger(s) out Laughing , check out
live365.com/choice for more info & addresses & phone numbers for your Senators & Representative.
Again, a huge Thank You to all you folks for your hard work & support. Hopefully, we'll all be able to get back to playing & listening to the great variety of recordings here at OlioRadio and on stations all over the 'net!
Love & Peace, Clarence

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

SoundExchange: The Lies Continue...

SoundExchange sent out a letter to their members on June 20, 2007. It is availible in full here: http://www.kurthanson.com/myths/soundex_letter.shtml.
Here are just a few of their lies, followed by the facts:

"14 of the 20 largest webcasters, some who comprise DiMA and
SaveNetRadio, have market capitalization ranging from one billion to
several hundred billion dollars."

Count the over $1 billion Webcasting companies with me: AOL (one), Clear Channel (two), MTV Networks (three), Real Networks (four), Yahoo! (five)...oops! an F in Arithmetic for SoundExchange. And there are 4 companies (Sony/BMG, Warner Music, Universal Music Group, EMI) with over $1 billion in market cap which each have a seat on the SoundExchange Board of Directors.

"Recently lastfm.com-which had
enjoyed significant subsidies through its small webcaster status was
sold to CBS Corporation for $280 million, none of which went to
artists or copyright holders"

...One, last.fm was not subject to any U.S.royalties because they are located in London, UK. They Are subject to royalties under UK laws paid to a UK organization. Two, this week Sony/BMG, a company with a seat on the SoundExchange Board of Directors,
signed a licensing deal with last.fm. Under this deal last.fm will pay a flat fee to Sony/BMG and Sony/BMG waives all royalties to be owed to them by last.fm. So Artists, instead of getting a percentage of those royalties, get Nothing.

"The Bridge Report says that the
average internet user listens to approximately 40 hours of music per
month. So in 2007 the cost of royalties per month for the average
user would be approximately 65 cents per month. In 2010 the cost of
royalties per month for that user would be approximately $1.12 per month, a little over 12 dollars a year. (Yes, that's all)".

Let's see, $12/year times Live365's 4.5 million listeners equals $54 million/year (plus an additional $5 million in new 'administrative fees' not shared with Artists), as opposed to the $1 million Live365 paid in royalties for 2006 (under the old rates). Let's see...Revenues in 2010 up 54 times above 2006...nice work if you can get it. Of course under the new rates Live365 will go bankrupt, so there will be Zero going to Artists.

Live365.com/choice. July 15th the new rates go into effect. Please act now!
Clarence Jones
OlioRadio.net

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Monday, July 9, 2007

Why We Fight...

Here's what you will not hear after July 15th if, as expected, thousands of Internet Radio Stations in the U.S. have to shut down.

Lost Music.mp3

Check out Live365.com/choice. You are the Last Hope.
Love & Peace, Clarence

None for Artists, All for Big Labels!!

last.fm, recently bought by CBS, announced a deal to license all of Sony/BMG's recordings. It allows last.fm listeners to hear Sony/BMG artists. And, it insures that NONE of those artists will see one dime of this money.
BBC Story
You see, under a statutory license (such as the copyright royalty in the U.S.) an amount of money (usually a percentage of the royalties) is paid to artists. Under a direct licensing deal (which includes a blanket release from all copyright payments) NO money is directed to artists. So they get nothing.
This is what the Big Labels want, rather than getting Only Half of all copyright royalties generated by playing their artist's recordings on Satellite & Internet Radio. They set the cost per year (easier budgeting that way), and keep every penny.
Live365.com/choice. It's not too late. Keep artists alive: Keep Internet Radio alive.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Mini-Update to OlioRadio's Playlist...Thousands Cheer!

On T minus 6 days and Counting, a mini-update to OlioRadio. Artistes added to the fun & merriment are: Country Joe and the Fish - Frank Shaw and Co. - Fred Ardath and Earl Hal - Inca Son - Lila Lee - Melodi Light Orchestra - Otis Redding - Ray Starita and His Ambassadors - Suburb Songs - and Tom Jones & Tanya Tucker.

There are (hopefully) negoiations taking place between SoundExchange and Webcasters over the new Copyright Royalty Rates. Nobody knows what will happen to thousands of Internet Radio stations in the U.S., including this one, after July 15th. If you haven't, Please Please go to Live365.com/choice for info on what's going awn.
Stay cool and enjoy the variety of OlioRadio. Thanks.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Thursday, July 5, 2007

What SoundExchange doesn't want you to know, #712

KCRW reporter Celia Hirschman tells us what we didn't know about SoundExchange's most recent offer: http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/ob/ob070704cloudy_issues_surrou.
They issued a press release stating that they would cap the $500 per channel per year "administrative fee" for Webcasters at a maximum of $2500 per service per year. Nice idea, eh? Well, what they Did Not say was that they'd cap the fee IF:
Webcasters would agree to drop all push for a legislative solution (aka the Internet Radio Equality Act) now And Anytime in the future.

Gee, how kind.

Especially since the cap is only for 3 years, retroactive to Jan. 2006. Which means that in 2009 this mess starts again.

To quote that great judge of character, Bugs Bunny, "What a Maroon!"
Love & Peace, Clarence


Bunny Rabbit and Den Watts: Yin & Yang?

Now appearing on my MySpace page:
Captain Kangaroo's opening w/theme, and Eastenders' closing w/long theme.
Click this link, scroll down a little, & look on the right side:
http://www.myspace.com/olioradio
I still hope I can grow up to be Mr.Green Jeans (As IF I was gonna grow up!!)

Not a promo for my page, just saves you having to click on 2 different links to YouTube.

Enjoy!
Love & Peace, Clarence

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

'bye Nancy

Today I read that Nancy McLarty, aka ellacurry, internet broadcaster, passed away July 1 after a brave fight with cancer. Nancy's station, Dimensions in Jazz, showed her knowledge & love of 50's and 60's Jazz. I know that she is watching some of the Jazz immortals play, and she is smiling.
My thoughts go out to her family & friends. She is missed.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

A living archive of U.S. tv history

If you are already interested in the history of Television in the U.S. (or would like to know something about it), here is the place for you: the Archive of American Television blog. Here is a regularly updated listing of interviews on (the site formerly known as) Google Video by the organization that runs the Emmy Awards. From directors ( James Burrows, Jay Sandrich) to writers (Bob Schiller & Bob Weiskopf, Lucille Kallen) to actors (Ron Howard, Alan Alda, Dennis Weaver, James Arness) to...well, almost Everybody (Jim McKay, Bob McGrath, Dick Wolf, Sid Caesar), it's an incredible resource & a helluva lot of fun.

There are over 500 interviews of from 2 to 6 hours in length which, since they were all done using cameras utilizing 30 minute long tape, are in 28-30 minute segments.
It's an interviewer (who also runs the one camera, set on a tripod & primarily motionless) and the interviewee in a room in the interviewees home. Period. No mementos, no stills, no production: just someone asking basic questions (albeit someone who has done some research) of another person who has lived an extraordinary life. The interviewees range in age from young (well, Ron Howard IS less than a year older than me :lol) to their 90's. They worked as Stage Managers, Makeup Artists, & Producers. Their work in TV spanned the pre-WWII era (didja Know there was TV in the U.S. back then?) through today.

Their stories are entertaining & enlightening. The interview series began in the mid-90's (and continues today), so a number of these folks have passed away. This isn't old-style talk show banter ("but I wanna tell ya..."). It's the stories of their lives in and around Television. And it's very cool.

(Btw, you can, of course, stream the interviews through Google Video online, or download the Google Video client & then d/l the interviews in Google's DRM'd format...OR , if you use the Firefox browser, you can install UnPlug, a Firefox extension that allows you to, once the video starts streaming, click a button & d/l the video as a Flash (.flv) file. You then use a Flash player (I use FLV Player - free, open source, & simple to use) to play the video whenever you want! Of course, this could be used on other sites that use Flash video to d/l material, & it could lead to the possibility of some sort of copyright infringement, so you should not do such a thing. Nope, shouldn't do it at all.)
UnPlug - http://unplug.mozdev.org
FLV Player - http://www.martijndevisser.com/blog/flv-player/
Love and Peace, Clarence

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Webcasters vs. Big Music

Here is an actual intelligent factual article in Rolling Stone. I thought that stopped around 1983. lol
It's entitled "The Record Industry's Decline":
click here to read it.
Quote from the ex-head of the RIAA on the post-Napster/pre-iTunes 2001-2003 period: "That's when we lost the users," Hilary Rosen says. "Peer-to-peer took hold. That's when we went from music having real value in people's minds to music having no economic value, just emotional value."

Here is one Webcasters response to the huge raise in copyright royalties plus a $500/year 'administrative fee' ordered to go into effect July 15th:


And July 15th gets closer...
Love & Peace, Clarence

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Chris Benoit follow-up

I don't understand how anyone can kill an innocent person. I can't understand how anyone can kill someone they love. I can't understand how ANYONE can kill a child.

It's more than any excuse or crutch such as Steroids or Drugs. Steroids and Drugs are symptoms or triggers. And they should not be allowed in or around Wrestling or any other atheletic event or exibition, professional or amatuer. But this cannot be used as an excuse, any more than "They weren't getting along" or " He/She just snapped". That is avoiding the problem. Millions of people have emotional problems. I've suffered from Clinical Depression for 40 years. It will cause you to do things you'd never normally do. People need to get help. Their family &/or friends need to get them help. Most murders happen between friends or family.

We can honor the memories of Nancy and Daniel Benoit by trying to help our friends, family, and co-workers to get help for emotional problems. That would be the best tribute to their sacrifice.

God Bless their Families, Friends, and Chris' two older children.

Love & Peace, Clarence

Monday, June 25, 2007

Chris Benoit 1967-2007

Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7 year old son Danie were found dead this afternoon in their Atlanta area home. Police are investigating, and have only said that the Benoits were not shot. Police were asked to go to the home after WWE officials could not get in touch with Benoit or his wife following Benoit's no-show at the WWE's pay-per-view last night.

Chris Benoit, 40, was one of the finest wrestlers of the past 20 years. He worked in Canada (his birthplace), Japan (World Jr. Heavyweight Champion after defeating Jushin Liger, himself one of the finest wrestlers on the world scene), and in the U.S.. In 2004, Benoit became WWE World Champion at Wrestlemania 20 in Madison Square Garden.

Chris Benoit wasn't a guy who is made into a wrestling star because he can talk on the mic or because he's tall and well-built. Chris Benoit was average height on his best days and was thick and strong as an ox. He couldn't talk well on the mic. He had no charisma. He WAS a star because he worked harder than anyone, he was one of the finest technical wrestlers of all-time
, and true wrestling fans loved that about him, and made him a favorite for it. No steroids, no drugs.

He had true dignity and class. He respected wrestling and the wrestling fans every night, and a few wrestling 'stars' were taught the hard way by Benoit, in the locker room & out, to respect them also. All you need to know is that whenever his son Daniel came to a show, Daniel wore a dress shirt and tie. Chris Benoit wanted his son to show respect to the other wrestlers and to the fans.

Bless his family and his many friends. I loved him as a wrestler and as a person. Pegasus Kid, I'll miss ya.

Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, June 21, 2007

More Webcasters join in Day of Silence

As of this afternoon, more Webcasters will be observing the Day of Silence June 26th. Pandora, Yahoo! Music/Launchcast, Rhapsody, and MTV Online have joined Live365.com, KCRW.org, Radioio, Radio Paradise, AccuRadio and many others in streaming no music that day. This is to show what U.S.-based Internet Radio will sound like under the huge increase in the Copyright Royalty rate legally-operating Webcasters pay. For more information and to see how you can let your voice be heard, go to savenetradio.org. Help keep OlioRadio and thousands of other Internet Radio stations alive!

Love and Peace, Clarence

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

June 26th will be a Day of Silence

On Tuesday, June 26th, OlioRadio, along with all music stations on Live365.com, AccuRadio, KCRW.org, and many other Internet Radio Broadcasters, will observe a Day of Silence. On that day all Listeners will hear ambiant-style "quiet music" interspersed with announcements detailing why this is happening & what Listeners can do to help save U.S.-based internet radio.

In March 2007, the Copyright Royalty Board (authorised by the U.S.Copyright Office) changed the Copyright Royalty rates paid by all legally-operating U.S.-based interner radio broadcasters. The new rates, retroactive to January 1, 2006, will amount to 100% or more of virtually all internet broadcasters' revenue. In other words, it will take every penny (or more) that a webcaster makes just to pay the copyright royalties on the music we play. And for the thousands of us who do this as a hobby and don't have Any revenues, it's impossible.

On July 15th, all royalties under the new rate (over and above what we paid under the old rate) from January 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 will be due. With the new rate, almost all U.S.-based Internet Radio will close down for good. The only chance to keep "on the air" is passage of the Internet Radio Equality Act, which has been introduced in both the U.S.House and Senate. The Act would set copyright royalties at 7.5% of revenus, which is about the same as satellite radio pays. This would be a higher rate than we pay now, but it would be affordable for most internet broadcasters.

The Day of Silence is meant to let Listeners hear what U.S.-based Internet Radio will sound like after July 15th if the Internet Radio Equality Act is not passed. Please call, write, or email your House member and the Senators from your state and ask them to pass this legislation before July 15th so that your favorite internet stations aren't turned off permanently. If you need more info about how to contact your representatives, or simply want to know more, go to savenetradio.org.

OlioRadio will proudly participate in the Day of Silence. More Internet Radio broadcasters will be announcing their participation between now and Tuesday, June 26th. Join with us, and tens of thousands who've already contacted their Congressional reps, to Save 'Net Radio!

Love and Peace, Clarence Jones
OlioRadio.net

Monday, June 18, 2007

Elaine Stritch! Ladies and Gentlemen, Elaine Stritch!

Elaine Stritch from the 1954 Broadway revival of "On Your Toes".







From bluegobo.com, a great site for Classic Broadway.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Saturday, June 16, 2007

New Tracks Signifying OlioRadio

It's a typical update to OlioRadio. Former Underground FM bands, live Electronica, recent Gypsy music, Dark Ambient, Clara Bow, and Walter Cronkite dissin' Thugs are representin' in the new tracks. Here's a list of all the Artistes added: Big Brother and the Holding Co. - Bonnie Raitt - Clara Bow and Mitzi Green - Fanfare Ciocarlia - Fleetwood Mac (w/Peter Green) - Frank Shaw and Co. - Ilium - Iwori - Jefferson Airplane - Little Dipper - Nick Lucas - Part of Speech - Pink Floyd - Raison d'Etre - Ron Dadey - The Firey Furnaces - The Moody Blues - The National - The Rolling Stones - Tim Curry (NOT from Rocky Horror) - Van Morrison (with, separately, B.B.King and Tom Jones) - Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather - Willis Alan Ramsey - and ZZ Top. A yummy Freeform musical feast!

Please write, call, or email your Representative and Senators requesting their support of the Internet Radio Equality Act. On July 15th, internet radio in the United States will likely cease to exist unless this bill is passed. Go to savenetradio.org for more information and help keep Independent Sounds alive!
Love and Peace, Clarence

and i'm caught

Van Morrison. Fillmore 1970. Cypress Avenue.
Nothin' else to say...



Love & Peace, Clarence

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

We Don't Buy What We Hear...We Steal It- SoundExchange

In the first of a series of Point-Counterpoint articles in the L.A.Times, Kurt Hanson of AccuRadio (an internet broadcaster) debates Jay Rosenthal (member of the board of SoundExchange) on issues relating to the CRB decision & the Internet Radio Equality Act which has been introduced in the U.S.House & Senate. Here is Mr. Rosenthal (echoing SoundExchange's Excecutive Director, John Simson) on the promotional value of Internet Radio:
Mr. Rosenthal - "There may be some anecdotal evidence that some listeners "find" new artists and then "buy" the music. But I think the point is way overblown. I am more inclined to believe -- based on the experience of my artist and indie label clients -- that some listeners "find" new music and then, more often than not, illegally download the music.".

Sooo...some listeners steal music, therefore all listeners are guilty. Because you & I don't run down to our local Wal-Mart, Target, or Best Buy & buy cds by SoundExchange (aka Major Lable) artists, we make Internet Radio worthless as a promotional tool. It's all our fault.

Last month (May 2007) the internet radio stations using Live365's service played over 250,000 artists. Yep, that's over a quarter of a Million different artists. All of that airplay will be reported to SoundExchange & royalties will be paid on every one of them. Wonder how many of those 250,000+ artists will see a penny from SoundExchange?

Go to savenetradio.org for information on how to help internet radio in the United States survive. July 15th could be the Day The Music Dies online. Spend a few minutes: help keep internet radio alive!

Love & Peace, Clarence

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Saturday, June 2, 2007

new stuff!

A mini-update of the OlioRadio playlist! Added is a lot of Broadway (Alice Ghostly, Barbara Cook, Betty Buckley, more Charles Nelson Reilly, Elaine Stritch, Ethel Merman, Mary Martin and John Raitt, Paul Lynde, Robert Morse), and some other types of stuff (Paul McCartney, Sammy Davis Jr., Trombone Red & his Blue Six).
OlioRadio gives you your Minimum Daily Requirement of...every type of Music!
Love and Peace, Clarence

The Red Cross Groks New Media

The American Red Cross is beginning to use blogs, rss feeds, & other social media tools in their Disaster Relief efforts. Ike Pigott, Director of Communications and Government Relations for the American Red Cross in the 5-state Southeast Region, talks to Shel Holtz about how he came up with the concept of using social media for communication in emergencies & eventually in other ways. The interview is availible on Shel's blog here. You'll hear some good ideas that You can use to help communicate in any situation from local emergencies to your business or even personal hobbies.

Shel is the co-host (along with Neville Hobson) of For Immediate Release: the Hobson & Holtz Report, the best podcast on communication, PR, & social media. Check it out at forimmediaterelease.biz. You'll be glad you did!
Love & Peace, Clarence

May Top 25 Tracks on OlioRadio

Heeeeere's the Top 25 tracks for May on OlioRadio! These are the 25 tracks (52 this time, due to ties) rated highest by the listeners to OlioRadio between May 1st and May 31st, 2007.

As always, variety is the spice of listening life. The list includes vaudeville (Eddie Cantor, Belle Baker), early blues (Blind Willie McTell, Charlie Patton), DooWop (the Five Satins, the Bel Aires), comedy (Bob and Ray, Firesign Theatre, Kevin Pollack), more recent stuff (Seismic Anamoly, Johnny Thunders, Be-Non), and the Unclassifiable (a Box Tops 60's Coca-Cola ad, H-Bomb Ferguson, Prince Albert Hunt's Texas Ramblers, and Ric Flair). In short, the free-est form of Freeform radio availible on- or off-line! Hear OlioRadio at Live365.com.

And Please, go to savenetradio.org for information on the threat against Independent Internet Radio, now scheduled for shut down on July 15th. A few minutes of your time spent writing, calling, or emailing your Senators & Representative could keep thousands of Internet Radio stations (like this one) streaming great music and talk programming to you. See savenetradio.org for details.

Love and Peace, Clarence

Monday, May 28, 2007

Rest, Fair Sir: Charles Nelson Reilly

Charles Nelson Reilly died. Tony Award winning actor, Tony nominated director, noted opera director,...& yeah, he did game shows to pay the bills.
Here's a clip from a film of his one-man show "Life of Reilly".

Godspeed Sir.
Love & Peace, Clarence

Saturday, May 26, 2007

New tracks on OlioRadio

It's (past) time for a new playlist on OlioRadio. Although there've been tracks added over the last few weeks, I've got a fresh playlist of music and stuff riding the InterTubes 24/7.
And who's the Noobs? Well! Here comes a list of the Artistes freshly added:
20/20 - Alan King - Allen Toussaint - Ann Peebles - Apples in Stereo - Billy Jones (no relation) - Bing Crosby and the Mills Brothers - Bobby Fuller Four - Bow Wow Wow (by request ;) ) - Catherine Duc - Dwight Yokum - Earlimart - Enigma - Esquerita - Gregorian Sense - Husker Du - Insecto - Irma Thomas - Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Lonestar Pornstar - Long John Hunter - Miss Leslie and Her Juke-Jointers (YES!!!!) - Neurosonic - the New York Dolls (yayyyyyyy!!!) - Patti Smith - R.E.M. - Richard Ashcroft and Coldplay (live from Live8) - Schizowave - Scraps of Tape - Sevrin - Shari Lewis and Lambchop - Shimura Curves - Superchunk - The Artesians - The Beatles - The Brian Jonestown Massacre - The Mighty Hannibal - The Residents - The Russian Futurists - The Texas Tornados - The Weakerthans - Trapeze - Warren Zevon (live on the newly re-released Stand in the Fire) - Willis Alan Ramsey - and Zinoeki. A whole bunch o' music goin' on!
And please surf to savenetradio.org for info about the Internet Radio Equality Act, why it is desperately needed, and how you can help. A couple of minutes of your time can help save this station and thousands of others.
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Internet Radio bill in the Senate

The Internet Radio Equality Act has been introduced in the U.S.Senate! Please call your Senators now!

U.S. Senate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Melissa Merz, (202) 224-1170 (Wyden)
May 10, 2007 Becky Ogilvie (202) 228-3107 (Brownback)

Wyden, Brownback Propose Bill to Keep Internet Radio in Play

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) today proposed legislation to keep Internet radio alive by vacating a Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decision that could increase Internet radio sound recording royalties by 300 percent to 1,200 percent.

According to an Arbitron and Edison Media Research, 52 million people listened to Internet radio at least once a month in 2006. Bridge Ratings and Research predicts that number
will double within three years and reach nearly 200 million by 2020.

July 15, when collection begins on the new royalty fees, literally will be the day the music died. Most Internet radio Webcasters will be driven out of business because of a massive retroactive royalty rate that is above total revenues for most in the business.

For large Webcasters, the royalty increase could be between 40 percent and 70 percent of revenues.

For small Webcasters the royalty increase could reach up to 1,200 percent of revenues.

Currently, terrestrial radio stations only pay royalties to songwriters. Internet radio and
satellite radio pay royalties to both songwriters and record companies/recording artists. However
satellite radio only pays royalties of 7.5 percent of their revenue. The Internet Radio Equality
Act of 2007 corrects the enormous disparity created by the CRB by putting Internet radio on par with satellite radio. Additionally, the legislation would create special royalty rules for the Webcasting arms of non-commercial broadcasters like National Public Radio and college radio
to ensure they are not left out of reaching new listeners on the Internet.

“Our bill is about standing up for folks ranging from a small Webcaster in a basement in Corvallis to an innovative startup in Beaverton to a new band trying to be heard in Portland to a huge music fan in Coos Bay” Wyden said. “Keeping Internet radio alive is part of a broader issue that is important to me -- keeping the e-commerce engine running by preventing discrimination against it.”

“I am alarmed by the recent Copyright Royalty Board decision and the effect it will have on Internet radio – especially small Webcasters with limited revenue streams. I am hopeful that with this bipartisan legislation Internet radio will continue to flourish,” said Brownback, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Jefferson Public Radio joins with all our public radio colleagues in thanking Senators Wyden and Brownback for introducing legislation that will permit us to continue to serve Weblisteners all across America,” said Ronald Kramer, Executive Director of Jefferson Public Radio in Ashland, Oregon. “The public service mission of public radio Webcasters enables programming diversity not available elsewhere. Without passage of Senators Wyden’s and Brownback’s legislation, the decision of the Copyright Royalty Board will dramatically curtail the Webcast programming diversity we wish to continue providing.”

The legislation also will undo the prohibitive $500 per channel minimum royalty fee set by the CRB. Wyden and Brownback noted that Internet radio is not limited by the number of “channels” available, as traditional radio is. Thus, while regular radio stations play a very limited number of mostly popular songs that have a mass audience, Internet radio – not confined by spectrum capacity – gives any artist or consumer the ability to have their own channel. This allows independent artists to have a medium to reach new and old fans and allows consumers to customize their own radio stations to their liking.

Wyden’s and Brownback’s bill will be the Senate companion to H.R. 2060, the Internet Radio Equality Act, introduced April 23 by U.S. Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo(R-IL).

“This Titanic rate increase will sink many Webcasters if we don’t act,” said Inslee, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. “We need a more balanced rate structure that allows Internet radio to thrive, promotes media diversity and rewards artists for the use of their intellectual property.”

“I applaud Senators Wyden and Brownback for taking leadership of this important legislation in the Senate so we can overturn these unfair royalty rates that threaten to bankrupt our small Webcasters and silence the music on the Internet,” Manzullo said.

“Since we introduced our legislation in the House two weeks ago, I have been inundated with messages from Internet radio listeners throughout the country thanking me for protecting this wonderful medium. This issue has ignited a flurry of passion from music lovers throughout our country, and I again thank Senators Wyden and Brownback for
their efforts to help keep the music playing on the Internet.”


Love & Peace, Clarence

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

See April's Top 25 tracks on OlioRadio!

Howdy Howdy Oliofans! Here's your OlioRadio Top 25 Tracks for April 2007. As always, these are the top tracks (27, due to ties) as rated by You, the listeners, for the past 30 days.

This month shows the eclecticism that OlioRadio is known for. The top tracks include perennial favorites Nina Gordon, Blind Willie Johnson, and 'Under the Sheltering Sky' by one of my five favorite bands of recorded history, Walking Wounded. There are early 20th century recordings such as 'Nobody', recorded in 1905 by the great Bert Williams, along with songs from later decades by The California Ramblers, The Du-Droppers, The Exotics (a great ad for Bill McKay Chevy!), and Todd Rundgren. And tracks from the last couple of years by Collusion and Vijaya. You will not hear this variety of musical styles and eras anywhere but OlioRadio!

The Internet Radio Equality Act was just introduced in the U.S.House of Representatives. This bill is the last chance for Internet Radio stations like OlioRadio to survive after May 15th. It rolls back the impossibly high copyright royalty rates set in March to a level that's fair to Artists and Webcasters. If this bill doesn't pass the House & Senate by May 15th, most, maybe all, Internet Radio stations in the USA will have to shut down. Go to savenetradio.org to help keep OlioRadio & thousands of internet radio stations alive!

Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Our Last Chance to save Internet Radio!

Today, Reps. Don Manzullo (R-IL) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced the Internet Radio Equality Act. This bill would roll back the copyright royalty rates instituted last month that would close down most, if not all, U.S. internet radio stations by May 15th. The Act sets a copyright royalty rate of 7.5% of gross revenues (roughly equal to the rate for satelite radio) from Jan. 1, 2006 through Dec. 31, 2010.

Go to savenetradio.org for quick links to call, write, or email your Representative & ask them to co-sponsor the bill. It needs 270 sponsors to avoid the standard hearings process, which could take months: This has to be passed by the House & the Senate before May 15th (when back royalties are due under the CRB decision), or there'll be No Internet Radio in the United States to save. Go ahead & contact your state's two Senators also. Let them know that this bill is supported by a huge number of people & they'd better jump on the train as it comes through!

That's savenetradio.org.

Love & Peace, Clarence Jones
OlioRadio

Saturday, April 21, 2007

OlioRadio presents a new playlist for your Dining and Dancing Pleasure. While you're listening to the wonders on OlioRadio, please go to savenetradio.org and take two minutes to help this and 1000's of other Internet Radio stations keep playing. And I promise it won't cost you a penny.

So what Artistes contributed new tracks to your ears? Here's the list: animAdverto - Bel Aires (German doo-wop) - Belle Baker - Bill and Carrol and The Neches Valley Boys - Cliff Edwards - Donna and Gladys of Albina - Eddie Shuler's All Star Revue - Ethel Waters and Orchestra - Ethelbert Nevin - Five Satins - Frances Soto's Metalpolis - Lana Martino-Smith - Red Le Blance and His Crescent Boys - Richard Barthelmess (a movie star) - Silver Apples - Stanley Brothers and The Neches Valley Boys - Suburban Kids with Biblical Names - Tarsha - Tennessee Thompson - The California Ramblers - The Muppets (in Hebrew) - The Wrens - Thomas Jackson and Paul Porcasi - Uncle Alvis and The Corncobs (you read that right) - Van and Schenck - Walter Van Brunt - Warren Zevon - and the Willows. Salute!

Keep on listening to a Dozen Decades of cool music: stay here at OlioRadio!
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, April 19, 2007

We Won't Back Down

This link to a CNN story abouit the non-rehearing by the CRB was posted earlier in another thread by johns805 (a broadcaster at Live365):
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/04/17/internetradio.ap/index.html

Here's paragraphs 6 & 7 of that story:
Quote:
N. Mark Lam, the CEO of Live365 Inc., a privately held company that aggregates audio streams from thousands of radio stations and other small webcasters, said that under the new royalty rules, "there is no industry."

Lam, who joined the venture capital-backed company about two years ago, said Live365 just barely broke even last year and had about 4.5 million unique listeners every month.


"...Live365 just barely broke even last year..."
So, after losing money since 1999, Live365 broke even. I've been here 5 years, hoping that one day this idea & business model would work. We (Live365 Management, Staff, Webcasters) wanted to prove that there was another way to broadcast: real people streaming What They Loved. And, as a business, to create a sustainable business model.

IT WORKED.

The Bums heading the major labels & Sound Exchange will NOT get me to say "You won.". They haven't won. Even if the Congress does nothing & the Courts do nothing, Even if this service shuts it's doors. They have given Artists the shaft & lied about it so often until they have become the Most Disliked Group in the United States, a symbol of abuse of power so rancid that people who don't know an mp3 from a GED know that they are scum.

WE WON.

If you are an Broadcaster who owes thousands of dollars or more in additional royalties, feel free to connect your fist with my chin. You are at risk of your and your Family's financial security being stolen by thieving greedheads. That's a helluva result for people who started stations because you love Music. It's Wrong. And I promise you again that I am doing & will continue to do all I can for you in this battle.

Considering the events of March 2nd & since, you can consider this unimportant, ironic, unnecessary, or a diversion. But, no matter what happens from now on, this is a victory. For Everyone here. For the Dream of providing all a voice. For The Radio Revolution.

They will always be Losers. We will always be Winners.
Clarence Jones

Sunday, April 8, 2007

New Playlist at OlioRadio full of Musical Masters

Hopping for variety in Music? Jump on the new playlist at OlioRadio. Norther, Souther, Easter, or Wester, you'll never find cooler sounds than these.

What Artistes' tracks have been newly added to these sounds, you ask? Here's the list: Baby Grandmothers - Bertha 'Chippie' Hill - Billy Murray - Blind Willie McTell - Charlie Linville and the Fiddlin' Linvilles - Collusion - Coon-Sanders Nighthawks - Cross Canadian Ragweed - David Bowie and David Gilmour - David Bowie (again?) and The Arcade Fire - David Bowie (jeez!) and the Spiders from Mars - Dolly Parton - Don Churchill and His Texas Mavericks - Eric Burdon/The Animals - George Jones - Harlow Wilcox and an unknown orchestra - Helpful Soul - John Barrymore - John Lennon - June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash - Kevin Pollack - Leroy Justice - Los Campesinos - Lyle Lovett - Marianne Faithful - Mary Love - Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner - Merle Haggard - Motorbaby - Petland - Rae Eleanor Ball - Renee Sebastian - Richard Belzer - Robin Williams and Billy Crystal - Roger Creager - Shake Russell - Shake Russell and Dana Cooper - Stereo Total - Steve Fromholz - Steve Marriott - Swamp Dogg - Ted Weems and His Orchestra - The California Ramblers - The Echoe Band - The Knickerbockers - The Spotnicks - The Ya-Yas - Tommy Alderson - Tubeway Army - Vincent Lopez and His Orchestra - Waylon Jennings - Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner with The Warner Bros. Orchestra - and Yuya Uchida and The Flowers. As Donn G. O'Vonnie once said, "A cultural landslide to fill your home entertainment center!".

Please know that we internet radio broadcasters Thank You, the Listeners, for choosing to listen to us. We need you to continue emailing, calling,& writing Congressional representatives & other Powers-that-Be on our behalf about the Copyright Royalty Board decision that will put most (if not all) U.S.-based internet broadcasters out of business & cut off U.S. Listeners from foreign broadcasters. Go to Save The Streams.org to help.
Love and Peace, Clarence

Thursday, April 5, 2007

An Open Reply to SoundExchange

This is an open letter from Live365.com replying to an email sent by the Executive Director of SoundExchange, John Simson, to SoundExchange members on the subject of the huge increase in Copyright Royalty rates. Disclaimer: I have been an Internet Radio Broadcaster for 5 years using Live365.com's services.

An Open Reply to SoundExchange

On March 23, 2007, SoundExchange Executive Director, John Simson, released a blanket email to SoundExchange members defending the CRB decision. In the interest of fairness we feel that while there are many points on which we wholeheartedly agree, there are several others that must be directly and openly addressed. You'll find the letter below with our comments inserted.


The letter reads as follows:

Dear SoundExchange Members and Friends:

I'm writing to tell you about the webcasting decision from the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). Some people in the webcasting community have mischaracterized the decision and its potential impact on the internet and in the press, resulting in hyperbolic claims of the demise of internet radio. To combat this misinformation campaign I am asking for your active support through letter writing, contacting Congress, blogging and speaking out.

We say:

It is not just "some people in the webcasting community," but rather, everybody in the entire Internet radio industry that the new CRB royalty determination threatens with demise. Internet radio services – large and small, public and private, mainstream and niche – have been alarmed by this decision, including the Digital Media Association (Yahoo, AOL, Live365, RealNetworks, Pandora), Small Webcasters (AccuRadio, Digitally Imported, Radioio), National Public Radio, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, and other radio broadcasters with an Internet establishment (ClearChannel, Bonneville, National Religious Broadcasters).

The CRB panelists mandated a minimum fee of $500 per station per year, which was intended to cover SoundExchange's administrative costs. To the extent that this minimum fee is uncapped and indiscriminately extends to all Internet radio services, it will greatly exceed the total royalties that most services would otherwise owe. Since Live365 aggregates all of the performances streamed through our service into a single report, we would be paying millions of dollars to SoundExchange to 'administer' our four quarterly reports when we actually do all the work. On top of that, the new minimum fee would more than triple Live365's royalty obligation for 2007 and, retroactively, 2006. Yahoo!, RealNetworks and Pandora will each have minimum fees that exceed $50 million, although their combined 2007 Internet radio revenues will not approach even $100 million.

Should this $500 per station minimum stand, Live365 and other aggregators of niche content will be forced to reduce the breadth and depth of content available to listeners. Artists in niche genres will be the worst-hit victims, because Internet radio provides the only access to such music for listeners who cannot get on the homogenized AM/FM and satellite radio. These stations are the only place thousands of artists are currently getting exposure and getting paid on royalties.

On Friday, March 3rd, the CRB issued its ruling regarding rates for webcasting and simulcasting for the period 2006-2010. The three judge panel considered testimony from 66 live witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents relating to the economics of internet radio and online simulcasts. After considering arguments and proposals from everyone who had an interest in these proceedings, the judges issued a highly detailed, 115 page decision. The CRB determined that the per stream rate will be raised by roughly 5 percent from the 2005 level for 2006. The CRB then increased the rate going forward each year through 2010.

We say:

Let's be honest: the firestorm of public backlash against this decision is not over the 5% retroactive raise in rates for 2006. The new yearly rates represent an increase over the 2005 rate of 5%, 44%, 84%, 136%, and 149%, from 2006 to 2010, respectively. Let's call a spade a spade – the new CRB rate in 2010 is two-and-a-half times what it was from 1999-2005.

The panelists also heard the expert testimony presented by SoundExchange witness Michael Pelcovits and based its royalty rate determination entirely on his testimony. The validity of his testimony should be seriously questioned. Mr. Pelcovits suggested that the right way to price non-interactive radio royalties is to calculate downward from the royalties paid by fully-interactive on-demand music services, like Rhapsody. In a concurrent case, regarding royalties to be paid by XM and Sirius, another SoundExchange witness proposed an entirely different methodology for calculating non-interactive radio royalties. If the second expert's theory had been applied in the Internet radio proceeding, the conclusions would have led to far lower royalties being set for Internet radio. This gamesmanship by SoundExchange suggests that the CRB's reliance on SoundExchange's expert to set Internet radio royalties led to an erroneous royalty decision.

Indeed, we feel that the closest analogue to non-interactive Internet radio is non-interactive terrestrial radio which pays NO royalty to SoundExchange at all.

The CRB's decision was validation of three basic principles:

1. The music industry is changing, dramatically. What was once a CD-only business has evolved into a multi-platform consumer offering - from streaming to cell phones to mp3 players and more. With these changes come new challenges to assure a fair and competitive marketplace.

We say:

Indeed, it remains a new challenge for SoundExchange to assure a fair and competitive marketplace in the music industry, without killing the very industry that represents the future of music promotion.

What we do not understand is why Internet radio is saddled with the highest rates. Satellite services, such as Sirius or XM, and cable TV music providers, such as Music Choice, pay substantially less for their sound recording royalties. All broadcasters pay similar composition royalties to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, but AM & FM stations pay ZERO sound recording royalties at all.

It's high time to create a level playing field for all radio formats if CD-only times are gone and artists need to get paid another way. Ironically, major record labels and AM/FM radio conglomerates have paid over $40 million to the FCC and the New York State Attorney General to settle charges of payments made illegally to get artists played on the radio. At the same time RIAA and Sound Exchange argue there is little or no promotional value in Internet radio. They want it both ways and that is NOT promoting a fair and competitive marketplace.

I (Mark Lam, CEO of Live365) testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on "Parity, Platforms, and Protection: The Future of the Music Industry in the Digital Radio Revolution" and believe that parity is essential to the future of the music industry. The CRB decision is antithetical to the existence of a fair and competitive marketplace.

2. Webcasters and simulcasters are in the business of providing a product - music - to consumers. The people who create the product - the artists and labels - should be fairly compensated in a manner that reflects the value of their work.

We say:

It has always been Live365's mission to support artists and pay our fair share of royalties, but not the unfair, ex post facto royalty rates that are based upon questionable testimony and assumptions provided by SoundExchange and wrongly relied upon by the CRB judges.

Since 1999, Live365 has always paid both composer performance royalties (to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) and sound recording performance royalties (to SoundExchange). Over the last few years, we've paid millions to SoundExchange alone on behalf of our broadcasters and listeners.

It's all about supporting artists who write and perform the songs we enjoy. This is a core mission behind Live365. Some of this support comes from promotion and airtime, so artists' works can be heard. Some comes from cash in the form of ROYALTIES. In 2006, Live365 paid SoundExchange more than $1 million. We would like to know how much of the royalties paid by Live365 has actually gone to the artists and the labels. Let's make this transparent and for all to see.

Live365 has created and provided for our stations a sophisticated data management system that tracks exactly which songs were played on which channels to how many persons. We provide SoundExchange with a single, compiled report and payment covering thousands of Internet stations. And Live365 and its broadcasters do the same reporting and paying for the songwriters and composers through contracts with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

3. All the participants in these proceedings are interdependent. We are all in this business together. One can't succeed without the other. Assuring fair treatment for all stakeholders in this dynamic landscape is critical.

We say:

If SoundExchange believes this, then the CRB rate decision could NOT have reached a more adverse result. Indeed, many small, non-profit and public service stations with little or no revenue will be stopped from broadcasting on the Internet under these new rates which will eliminate many of the music you can't find on AM, FM, satellite, or cable radio. If these rates are not reversed, we'd expect 80% of Live365 stations, specifically those in niche genres with unique content unavailable elsewhere, will have no choice but to shut down. Our 260 genres would probably be reduced to the same meager list available on AM/FM radio today.

As an example, the 2007 "pay for performance per listener" rate of $0.0011 may seem tiny, but one Internet radio station that broadcasts 15 songs an hour to 500 listeners would pay SoundExchange $72,270 a year, not to mention their other costs for composition royalties, hosting, bandwidth, music content and their programming staff. Compare that to the current under $600 average price of broadcasting on Live365 and you can get some idea of how the niche market might adjust should these new rates hold.

After the consolidation in the terrestrial radio market in the 1990s, Internet radio, such as Live365, is the primary source many listeners have for hearing jazz, classical, folk and many other types of music in niche genres – and the only source for airplay and promotion for artists in these categories.

It is disconcerting to see some of the mischaracterizations that have been floated around the internet and the press in the wake of the decision. These initial stories, promoted by a disgruntled minority, misrepresent the nature and economics of CRB's decision. Fanning the flames of this misperception are people and organizations that participated in the hearings before the CRB. They provided witnesses and economic analyses as well as their own testimony.

We say:

We can't help but to ask to please tell us who are the "gruntled majority" of webcasters that are apparently very happy with this decision. The only ones happy are the RIAA lawyers, maybe Sirius/XM who want to merge into a monopoly and limit substitute distribution technologies, and terrestrial radio who wants to maintain their dominant position by eliminating competition and forcing homogenized programming on listeners.

Ironically it was the webcasters and simulcasters who argued back in 2002 that they didn't have enough access to the original rate setting proceedings (known as the "CARP") and therefore requested a new system to set future rates. It's a little disingenuous to cry foul when they asked for a new system, welcomed it and participated fully in its proceedings. When they got the increased discovery procedures they asked for some webcaster participants promptly used it to harass any artist willing to step forward and ask for fair royalty rates. For instance, some of our artist witnesses were asked to provide 7 years of tax returns and every single record deal they had ever entered into. There are some who might view such actions as a flagrant attempt to intimidate our artists.

We say:

Ask any artist where he/she wants his music played ... one answer will ring true 99% of the time ... RADIO. Why? Because fans get to know artists and ultimately buy music and concert tickets from that discovery. We believe there are very few artists that are unhappy with the promotion and public awareness that Internet radio brings to their songs and careers. And the thousands of artists that send free CDs to our Live365 DJs every month to be played over Internet radio don't seem intimidated a bit.

Last month, Live365 stations played the songs of, and paid performance royalties to SoundExchange on behalf of, over 100,000 different artists. We challenge any radio or satellite network to prove they have a greater positive impact on more artists than Live365.

ClearChannel, AOL, Yahoo! and other large webcasters claimed the 2002 rates would put them out of business. That internet radio would stop. But that's not what happened. Over the past five years we have seen an explosion of broadcasters bringing their stations online, expansion by the large webcast services and in increase in advertising revenues from 50 Million to 500 Million Dollars.

We say:

A detailed analysis of this estimated $500 million advertising revenue reveals that the vast majority of it includes revenues generated by Internet on-demand video services, not non-interactive audio services like Live365. Indeed, the CRB's reliance on this one figure brings the validity of SoundExchange's justification of the higher royalty rates into serious question. By that criteria, should we include all broadcast TV's advertising revenues into the terrestrial radio industry?

We are big fans of internet radio. We love the breadth of the music, the niche channels and the spirit created by some of these services. We don't want to see them go away but we do want them to pay fairly when they use your recordings.

We feel the CRB decision objectively assures balance between the creators and users of music. The decision affirms the importance of both, as well as their interdependence. It is our hope that we can put this behind us and grow and prosper together.

We say:

Unfortunately, new royalty rates may bring an end to Small Webcasters who bring listeners, including the fans at SoundExchange, music in niche genres that are unavailable elsewhere. This is a particularly bitter outcome given that SoundExchange offered on its website and signed the SWSA (Small Webcaster Settlement Act) agreements with these same broadcasters in 2006 and 2007. These agreements allowed small webcasters to pay a flat 10 percent-of-revenue royalty with a minimum of $2000 per year under the SWSA which the CRB declared invalid retroactively dating back to January 2006. So now some of these small webcasters owe SoundExchange as much as $100,000, rather than $2000, for 2006 alone. And many Small Webcasters generate far less than even $2000/year revenue from their broadcasts.

Internet radio, particularly Live365, has been paying its fair share of royalties to composers, performers, publishers, artists, and record labels since day one. We'd like a call for parity in royalty treatment for all radio formats, including Internet, terrestrial (AM/FM), satellite, and cable.

If you agree with me, I would ask that you take the time to contact your Representative in Congress. More often than not Members of Congress hear from constituents when they want something or when something goes wrong. But it would be nice for Members to hear from you that the system they put in place worked as Congress intended, and that the CRB did a commendable job in assuring a fair, open and comprehensive process. To contact your member of Congress, click http://www.capwiz.com/soundexchange/home. Additionally, voicing your opinion in music trades and on blogs would also be quite helpful.

As always, we remain committed in our goal to better the lives and livelihoods of artists and copyright owners.

We say:

Yes, indeed. Please contact your Members of Congress immediately and let them hear your opinion on this important topic! If you are a musician and you think terrestrial and satellite radio is doing a great job of promoting and paying for your work, you will be very happy to see the CRB ruling stand. If, however, you are concerned that these new rates will end up hurting the exact artists that are being locked out of terrestrial and satellite radio today, please consider writing a letter on our behalf today. Details are at http://www.live365.com/choice.

Please feel free to contact me or my staff if you have any questions regarding these matters.

Sincerely,

John Simson
Executive Director
SoundExchange



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Please go to Save the Streams.org.
Love & Peace, Clarence