musicians
pass the mic
The coalition has collected stories and quotes from other musicians telling how internet radio has impacted their lives. We're passing the mic to you -- feel free to share your voice so you can be heard.
pass the mic
Testimonial Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21
- Impurity
- Saucy Jack
- Shadowchylde
- Rich Palmer
- Pandamonia
- Victoria Parks
- Billy Parson
- William Patteson
- The Dove Explosives
- Meadowlark Rising
- Pratie Heads
- Boi Soulja
- Alcatraz CAMP
- SilentSister
- H20
- weitweitweg productions
- Kreamy 'Lectric Santa
- The Crowd
- Mark Radcliffe
- ELDORADO GENE
To send your experience, email us.
This is Manos asking you to please lower those copyright fees. This is getting out of hand. Downloading and streaming content does not adversely impact the music industry or sales. If anything, it helps increase the listeners awareness of bands and artists they would otherwise not be able to access due to location/availability of the artists products in the listeners country or region. Internet radio is a low cost way for musicians and lovers of music to connect with each other and hear music they would otherwise not be able to access, meaning more record sales and live show ticket sales, not to mention extra merch sales due to people hearing about the band or bands on these stations. If the fees continue to increase, many bands, record labels, and listeners will suffer because a valueble low cost resource will be erradicated. Please get rid of these fees, or at least lower them.
Internet Radio is the most significant technological breakthrough for the art of music since audio recording. Every style of music and every song ever written has the potential to be heard by a worldwide audience for the first time ever. The face of music as we know it will change forever. This resource needs to be cherished, not taxed.
I've been getting international promotion thanks to internet audio and it would be a sincere same if it shut down...I think the mainstream commercial bands should give us unsigned bands a break and quit being so greedy...
Most listeners and independent musicians know that traditional radio is a corporate glut. The songs are all the same, they are premeditated and they are shoved down the listeners throats (ears?). As an independent musician, I've seen more success and opportunity to grow my business through internet radio stations and their delivery model. Pushing them out of the marketplace by bankrupting them will effect entire industries and will basically kill the open market and capitalist opportunities that exist in this country. What a shame. I don't support this new bill and loathe the thought that they are being overcharged for music that the traditional radio stations are not.
Regular Radio is about as fun as watching paint dry. I can't live without internet radio and the freedom it provides. It's varied musical genres and all these talented artists
CONTROLLED Radio force feeds down your throat all day every day.. BORING.
Absolutely SAVE NET RADIO. And stop being greedy Corporate/Government officials when does it end. Go do something more important!!! Save the seals.
Leave internet Radio alone.
The last time I released a VERY EXPENSIVE folk CD of original music, my release made it to #35 in the FolkDJ playlists for 2003, yet I received only $32 in royalties. I would much rather forego the royalties JUST TO HAVE TRAFFIC TO MY WEBSITE. Not much incentive there to copyright my music, is it? The entire music industry is modeled to shut out diverse music such as mine. As a result, listeners are exposed to ever increasing mediocrity and redundancy on the airwaves. When Internet radio came along I thought I had a first-time real opportunity to connect with a fan base. Now I can see the music industry (the big five) might yet have found a way to crush my dreams. Now I am considering not copyrighting my music and quitting my Performing Rights Organization because of these ridiculous rules. Internet radio has brought such a miraculous diversity to the radio. Now the "the Music Ministry" is yet going to dictate what we get to listen to. I am saying "no they can't."
The monopoly the music industry has had on the listening public has been devastating. Not only do we not have diversity but we have mediocrity and a painful redundancy on the airwaves that homogenizes our culture into something that really scares me. I am so sick of the same sort of homogenized garbage coming out of my terrestrial radio. Now, I may have to endure it on an internet that I PAY FOR? That is consumer fraud in my book. I remember when radio was free AND good. I guess the music industry doesn't want that. No, they want ALL the music dollars the public spends. I am saying,"no you cannot."
My brother and I are up and coming musicians and have recently recorded two cuts of our own original music. It is our hope that we will soon be able to broadcast our music via internet radio stations like Pandora. If this royalty is passed our chances of doing so are dismaly small. I implore of you not to take such actions as to pass this royalty.
-Billy Parson, 14, Mercer county West Virginia.
Artists rely heavily on promotion through internet radio. These provisions put a stranglehold on our opportunities.
We are a starting band, been together only 2 years. We would hope one day to be brodcasted on the net! glad to take action!
I am an internet listener and musician. Please do not impose the current proposed unreasonable royalty rates on independent internet music providers.
The high rate proposal will effectively cook the goose for all involved - imposing radical restrictions on independent music programming and the popular diversity which the internet tradituionally fosters.
Reasonable and equitable royalty rates should be developed which recognize artists and publishers rights as well as the equity which services such as internet radio provide artists and the public alike.
Ralph Penunuri
Corvallis, Oregon
My children, who are both musicians, and I have learned a lot of unusual music and been exposed to many non-mainstream artists through internet radio. I would hate this to be ruined.
Being an independant artist there is no way to get on regular radio stations and all we got is internet radio. Dont raise the rates!!!!
The net radio betters my chances at building large fan base by several hundred percent. If they go down, so do the many artists like myself via restricted and bias radio stations with NO appeal. This is my life and I won't give it up.
I have been playing music since I was four. I have divided in half between those who respect the arts and told " you are so talented you should do something with it" to the other side "how you going to make money in that? Get a job!" This only taught me one thing: that some people are just artists, and money is ok, but NOT the whole point of life! Artists have been treated as a money-making object throughout American history and beyond. If art isn't there to be a simple expression of human life and so important to people beyond material gain, then why are humans finding other ways to be connected over the internet through their art? If art is so respected by the politicians and executives then why are all the art programs not being funded in the "wonderful" public school system? Seems to me there is a lot more at stake here then just money. Art is for expression. Without it, some of us would go nuts, or be forced to take head drugs that are useless in the face of the power of a simple pop tune, or an angry hip hop song.
Music is so much so valuable than just lining your pocketbook. The masses of internet artists are proving that. I would have never met so many artists or even gave them a chance without being able to listen to internet radio and share my music just the same. In fact, I have purchased music on the internet that I wouldn't have without hearing first. I think selling individual songs on the internet is a great thing, but charging so much in royalty fees ( which we all know ARTISTS hardly see) is ridiculous. The old ways are out. Find new creative ways to make your money, like the artists themselves. Invest in the future of art as a part of humanity that cannot die, not just because someone could make you rich....that's pure greed that's completely missing the point of creating in the first place.
Save Internet radio for ALL not just the wealthy who can afford these ridiculous fees.
Mahalo,
Rick potter, drummer, h20.
Internet radio is a great opportunity and important means to share my music passion with people all over the world, to be heard by them and to listen to the listening pearls of others. We must resist and save internet radio from extinction!
I am an independant musician- Sites such as Pandora are one of the few places bands such as my own can be heard. Raising these fee's is unfair and impractical and will obviously foster big business whilst killing off the little guy (theres alot more little guys per capita)
Web sites like pandora have greatly expanded my musical scope, and to be honest, that is truly one thing that EVERY human being on earth can use.
Dear government officials:
You're punishing the wrong people. Please don't raise the rates. There's another way to still enact your objectives.
-Mark
I currently have 2 albums of original music assigned to the indie music distribution/publishing co. WWW.CDBABY.COM. Their business is to make my music available thru physical copies (CDs) and downloads of my songs in digital format. I feel it is totally improper for the (RIAA) to have been granted the right to act as a royalty collection agent for any monies which are paid to listen to 'my' music. I am sole owner of my copyrights, was not consulted in this matter, and granted no authorization to this major label licensing organization to assume such a right. Something is badly broken in a system which allows such blatant abuse and subversion of copyright laws to take place.
To send your experience, email us.