With the Election Over, Attention Turns Back to Congress and What Awaits Musicians
Chris Castle takes to the pages of Huffington Post to explain five reasons why musicians (and those who care about music) should not support the misleadingly titled “Internet Radio Fairness Act.” Here’s Reason #3:
3. Pandora Wants to Legislate Profits on the Backs of Artists: Now that Pandora has a $2 billion or so market cap, the simple truth is that Pandora is trying to legislate its profits on the backs of artists and so does Google and Sirius XM — a company that has $1.5 billion in cash on their balance sheet. This is just about money, it’s not about music.
But for musicians, the salary remains the same.
Read Chris Castle’s full post “The Tide has Risen-Five Reasons to Worry About the Radio Fairness Act” here and more on the growing political debate in a November 4th story from the NY Times “Fight Builds Over Online Royalties.”
China Daily Reports that Free Music Online is Coming to an End
I’ll believe that headline when I see it, but when it comes to cracking down on piracy in China I suppose any news is good news. The China Daily is reporting that online music distributors in China are in talks with Warner Music Group, Universal Music and Sony Music Entertainment to “charge” for music downloads. Not everyone is supportive, nor optimistic about the proposed effort. Read the entire story on China Daily here.
Debate Over Internet and Tech Issues Keep Low Profile During Campaign
Despite a long and cantankerous campaign, neither candidate seemed to pay much attention to issues surrounding the internet and technology. That’s bound to change once the dust settles. For a breakdown on the two campaigns and their take on technology issues, check out this report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.