Real Fairness in Internet Radio: Looking at Web Casting from Both Sides Now AMS-I Offers Artists Own Internet Radio Sites

Charleston, S.C., July 31, 2007 – Statement of Reed Bunzel, CEO of American Media Services-Internet (AMS-I), in response to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property hearing on “Ensuring Artists Fair Compensation: Updating the Performance Right and Platform Parity for the 21st Century”:

If we really wanted to talk about fairness, we wouldn’t let a new regulatory board that’s highly influenced by the recording industry cripple a burgeoning Internet radio industry. That’s exactly what the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) under the Library of Congress is doing by setting onerous royalty rates that every radio station – large and small – has to pay to reach listeners over the web. The result is a performance fee structure that is hardly fair or just.

No one is questioning that musicians deserve fair compensation for their works. Certainly the great artists who are appearing before the Subcommittee, Judy Collins and Sam Moore, as well as many others, ought to receive proper remuneration for their creative work. But we believe they’ll receive greater royalties if the web casting industry is allowed to survive – let alone prosper. Only then can this new industry serve the listening – and the music-purchasing – public. Under the current CRB rate structure, many Internet radio stations will go dark, and many who planned to stream will give up their opportunity to do so. How does this help established musicians, emerging artists, the record labels, consumers, or the future of media in general?

The answer is pretty clear: it doesn’t. And so we call on Congress to pass without any further delay the House and Senate versions of the Internet Radio Equality Act, H.R. 2060 and S. 1353, to create true platform parity.

We also invite Ms. Collins and Mr. Moore to “look at web casting from both sides now,” to paraphrase Ms. Collins. We’re happy to offer both artists their own Internet radio stations so that they, too, can experience firsthand the power of this delivery platform.

Finally, it’s time for the recording industry and the artists who have depended on radio airplay and Internet streaming for their financial success to work toward an equitable solution and a truly fair royalty rate. Only then can we begin to talk about fairness.

About AMS-I
American Media Services-Internet, an affiliate of American Media Services (AMS), was launched in
December 2006 to assist radio station owners and operators set up and manage streaming radio sites. AMS-I provides radio stations a turnkey solution for streaming audio content on the web and generating revenue from online advertising. AMS is a full-service radio brokerage and developmental engineering firm whose developmental division leads the country in successfully implementing station upgrades, moving them into larger markets and increasing their value.

Artists interested in having AMS-I create their own audio content to stream to a global listening audience, free of charge, should contact President/CEO Reed Bunzel at 843-972-2200 or rbunzel@ams.fm.