Radio is dying!

It would seem that greed is getting the better of them. What next? Are they going to charge record stores to sell their albums?

I forgot to include that the RIAA also wants internet radio stations to start paying these ASCAP &/or BMI licensing fees to play their music over the internet. I am not sure if this has gone through yet, but if it happens, that will be the death of the good but small internet radio stations that someone operates out of their garage or basement.

I understand what you're saying and I agree, the high restrictions on the internet have already made a serious impact on the reach of music. The licesning fees of RIAA are reasonable and have been in place for years but what I was referring to is what I saw on the news last night about the artists themselves trying to require that stations pay them to broadcast their songs over and above industry licensing. To me this seems like a bad thing.

Reference music players - I too hate the 5, 8 and 30 second demos! But there is good news. Some internet sites have gotten licensing agreements for whole songs and not just the stuff nobody wants to listen to. One of these players is on my profile if you want to join that site. there's no referal links. Also the site has a search feature to try and find songs they don't already have linked so you can add them and I've used it several times.

OK - I now see that I must have missed something in your original posting, & with what you just said, it sounds like these artists want nothing more than mere double-dipping.

Seeing the entire picture, this is what I see ...

Music Director (Or program director) comes to his desk & finds lots of new music.
The said director listens to one artist's sample.
Director makes a leaves rubber behind from his footwear while he flies to the bathroom to barf.
Director returns & dumps that piece of music, saying, "You expect this idiot to be paid to broadcast here???"

Or, if it was a committee that voted, & especially if they unanimously deemed the material on that as not good enough, they'd probably be playing frisbee with it during their lunch break.

If they just stuck with the ASCAP/BMI licensing fees that DO pay artists from them, there would be some more leniency in letting it be broadcast.

(Flings a junk CD to Strongheart.)
CATCH!

Yeah, crazy ain't it! It would be like me telling Walden Books they have to pay me to display my books!

Listening to oldies, & then sme of the stuff that's VERY recent, I can see why artists are getting greedy. It's almost always been when someone releases a song or an album, the record company keeps almost all of the profits from the sales.

It is from shows & concerts that artists actually generate their wealth. If they do a one-night show, & fill up the entire venue to maximum capacity, that does generate a lot. The problem is, today's artists don't fill up the place like the artists in the past used to, & therefore, don't generate as much revenue from a show like in the past.

So we have artists who think they're better & more talented than they REALLY are having it swelling their heads, & ... well - I think you know what I'm trying to say.

Yeah I understand, and here I would be happy to just get recognized! LOL

I would like to direct your attention to KK's response above where we went into more depth on it. We are not talking about simple rights anymore but rather performers are demanding more money in royalties and licensing fees outside the norm!

It really dosen't matter people will find good music. Ever heard of Metalicia they made it big with no airplay. Alternite and even rap in the early days created huge following without radio.

Record sales and concerts sales are down right now so instead of taking a pay cut artist are trying to maintain there lifestyle. Been tried before but you can't get blood from a stone I really can't see radio giving in. Most likely the radio stations will find a way around or start playing more local artists.

Either way radio will not die and we will find good music somewhere

I'd like to direct your attention to KK's response above where we went kinda in depth on it. We are not talking about simple rights anymore but rather performers are demanding more money in royalties and licensing fees outside the norm!

Saw that after I posted...

It is actually the established big-time major artists that are getting greedy. Quite often, the record companies & the RIAA do keep most, if not all, of the monies from music sales. The artists themselves actually generate their wealth from shows & concerts.

As I said above, an or the band members can become pretty wealthy if they go on tour & fill up the various venues with ticket-buying fans. That very seldom happens though. They're lucky if enough tickets get sold so that they don't need to go back to whatever their regular jobs were before getting famous. The other problem is, there are artists that just get careless with their money, & suddenly, they're very close to either losing their luxurious home or filing bankruptcy protection.

The relatively unknown artist would want the exposure without getting additional royalties. This entire discussion is talking about the famous ones that cannot fill a venue, but because they're famous, that fame goes to their heads, & cause them to think that they're better than they really are. It's many of those individual artists that want additional royalties for air play.

As a writer, I am enjoying the exposure to what the two of you are saying about the music industry as it gives me insights to other indusries.