The Year the Music Industry Broke

Interesting article pointing out the continuing slow decline and fall of the music industry. Why does it have to be slow? When will the final big cataclysmic event happen? I want it now!

MTV Says "It's Broken" and fails to mention how little that they have to do with music anymore

I am so glad they included this little tidbit....

March 5: In a blow to small Internet radio, the Copyright Royalty Board — made up of three copyright-royalty judges appointed by the librarian of Congress — significantly increases the royalties paid to musicians and record labels for streaming digital songs online, ending a discounted fee for small Internet broadcasters. Under the ruling, the current rate of $0.08 each time a song is played will more than double by 2010. In April, a coalition of webcasters, including National Public Radio, attempts to request a new hearing, but the Royalty Board rejects the appeal, and on July 15, the royalty hike goes into effect. In November, both AOL and Yahoo contemplate shuttering their Web radio services due to the increased royalties.

They did leave out the fact that EMI dropped DRM from their online music offerings and the new CEO has publicly stated that the RIAA lawsuits are costing them millions of dollars with little to no return on their investment. I believe they were even going to pull funding from the RIAA as part of their new cost cutting measures.

And we wonder what's really wrong with Radio.....

The RIAA is going after terrestrial radio for not paying the artists and performers whose music they play. Who cares that it's free advertising for the record companies.

In a bizarre twist, the National Association of Broadcasters is agreeing and asking Congress to investigate the record companies contracts with their artists and what would happen to that money if it was actually paid? Would it go to the artists or the record labels?

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071...-contracts.html