Save Internet radio!
My mom sent me this link.
I’d read a CNN article about this a couple weeks ago. In a nutshell, here’s the issue: The Copyright Royalty Board, a part of the US Copyright Office, decided to raise the royalty fees paid by internet radio stations. The article explained that many small, independent webcasters will not be able to afford the hike and fall silent. Even internet radio giants like Yahoo, AOL Music, and Pandora will feel a heavy burden.
This really irked me. Could my favorite electronic, jazz, and blues stations fall victim? No more Party 107? No more Forever Cool? No more Midnight Blues? I decided I can’t let this happen. So, for the first time in my life, I stood up and exercised my power as an American citizen: I wrote my congresswomen.
With the help of Congress.org, I was able to email Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Dana Rohrabacher (I did some research and discovered Dana is a man, which saved me a little embarrassment). The Save Internet Radio page on the site has a lame, dummy text I could have used, but I wanted to write a message from scratch and give my sentiments a personal touch. After all, my first time had to be special.
Here’s what I wrote:
I liked it. I did sample sentences from the dummy letter, but only for the last paragraph. You can learn more about the issue at Save Net Radio and Save Our Internet Radio, two websites with different names but the same purpose. If you want to know more about how our government has limited our choice in media, check this out.
I’d read a CNN article about this a couple weeks ago. In a nutshell, here’s the issue: The Copyright Royalty Board, a part of the US Copyright Office, decided to raise the royalty fees paid by internet radio stations. The article explained that many small, independent webcasters will not be able to afford the hike and fall silent. Even internet radio giants like Yahoo, AOL Music, and Pandora will feel a heavy burden.
This really irked me. Could my favorite electronic, jazz, and blues stations fall victim? No more Party 107? No more Forever Cool? No more Midnight Blues? I decided I can’t let this happen. So, for the first time in my life, I stood up and exercised my power as an American citizen: I wrote my congresswomen.
With the help of Congress.org, I was able to email Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, and Dana Rohrabacher (I did some research and discovered Dana is a man, which saved me a little embarrassment). The Save Internet Radio page on the site has a lame, dummy text I could have used, but I wanted to write a message from scratch and give my sentiments a personal touch. After all, my first time had to be special.
Here’s what I wrote:
I recently read about the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision to increase royalty rates paid by Internet radio broadcasters. As a result, many stations may not have the financial backing to pay the new fees and could fall silent.
This alarms me.
I am a longtime fan of Internet radio. I regularly listen to blues, jazz, and electronic streams. I enjoy the eclectic and diverse choice of music net radio offers, and it’s allowed me to discover and fall in love with new genres and musicians. Not only does Internet radio give me opportunities to hear new music, it gives many talented and yet undiscovered musicians an opportunity to showcase themselves and be heard. As a young artist myself I appreciate this, as well as Internet radio’s open mindedness and love of music.
An increase in royalty rates will jeopardize the webcasting industry. It will be a loss not only for independent business owners, but for thousands of musicians across the country. It will usher in a thinning of choices for net radio lovers like me, and close the doors to talented artists who want to play their music.
I request that your office look into this matter and initiate action to prevent the loss of many Internet radio stations. As the CRB rate decision is retroactive to January 1, 2006, please understand time is of the essence.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
[The Quiet Man]
I liked it. I did sample sentences from the dummy letter, but only for the last paragraph. You can learn more about the issue at Save Net Radio and Save Our Internet Radio, two websites with different names but the same purpose. If you want to know more about how our government has limited our choice in media, check this out.
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