The Evil Internet

[Tango]

I was following up a discussion on Don Henley & Mike Campbell's lawsuit over use of the song Boys of Summer and All She Wants To Do Is Dance to make a parody video that was used in a political campaign in California. This blog summarizes a lot of stuff that Stevie Nicks backs as well in her distain for the internet:

http://copyrightsandcampaigns.blogsp...it-henley.html

Thursday, August 5, 2010


Henley, DeVore settle lawsuit; Henley rails against remixes and mash-ups, YouTube, 'dark side' of Internet; songs are not 'toys or playthings'

[michelej1]

[Stevie's name is just one in a list, but I think it is related to the reasons why Stevie hates the internet and ties into those frequent comments of hers. ]

Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2012, by Randy Lewis
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...0,775927.story

Musicians oppose Pandora radio's effort to cut payments

More than 100 pop, rock, R&B, country and hip-hop musicians are protesting Pandora radio’s efforts to persuade Congress to reduce the fees the Internet radio service pays for playing their music, arguing that the measure would “gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon.”

Katy Perry, Britney Spears, the Dead Kennedys, Jackson Browne, Don Henley, Cee Lo Green, the Jazz Crusaders and Ne-Yo are among 127 musicians who have signed an open letter to be published this week in Billboard that applauds Pandora for its success but criticizes its push for Congress to pass the Internet Radio Fairness Act (H.R. 6480 and S. 3609).

“We are big fans of Pandora,” the letter states. “That’s why we helped give the company a discount on rates for the past decade. Pandora is now enjoying phenomenal success as a Wall Street company. Skyrocketing growth in revenues and users. At the same time, the music community is just now beginning to gain a footing in this new digital world.

“Pandora’s principal asset is the music,” the letter continues. “Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon? That’s not fair and that’s not how partners work together.”

Pandora officials have said a reduction in fees paid by Internet radio services is necessary to keep them competitive with broadcast radio. IRFA is described on Pandora’s website as “An important piece of legislation… to help end the long-standing discrimination against Internet radio.

“Today, the discrimination is extraordinary. In 2011, Pandora paid over 50% of revenues in performance royalties, while SiriusXM paid less than 10%,” according to Pandora’s statement. “Internet radio brings millions of listeners back to music, plays the songs of tens of thousands of promising working artists, enabling them to build their audience while receiving fair compensation.”

Other musicians who have lent their names to the protest effort include David Crosby, Missy Elliot, Sheryl Crow, Keyshia Cole, George Clinton, Stevie Nicks, Jason Mraz, Pink Floyd, Bonnie Raitt and the Zac Brown Band.

The musicians’ group, musicFIRST, has launched a website of its own, outlining its position. The group also has the backing of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), the AFL-CIO, the NAACP and the Recording Academy.

A letter from the Recording Academy opposing passage of IRFA argues that “the bill claims to create fairness but fails to address the real inequity that while Internet radio services properly pay creators, terrestrial radio pays nothing… Radio broadcasters are the only business in America that can use another’s intellectual property without permission or compensation.”

Pandora also has taken heat recently after Securities and Exchange Commission filings revealed the salaries, bonuses, stock options and other compensation for its top executives. For fiscal 2012, Chief Executive Joseph Kennedy received $732,000, Chief Marketing Officer Thomas Conrad received nearly $3.4 million and Chief Revenue Officer John Trimble was listed for total compensation of more than $4.5 million.

Update at 1:58 p.m.: The Internet Radio Fairness Coalition (IFRC) issued a statement Wednesday in response to the musicFIRST open letter: “The Internet Radio Fairness Coalition believes that we and the artists all want the same thing — a growing Internet radio industry that helps artists. The Internet Radio Fairness Act will help accomplish that goal.

“We respect the artists’ concerns and are willing to work with them through the legislative process," the statement continued, "to create a healthy, sustainable, growing Internet radio business that benefits them as well as labels, distributors and consumers.”

An IFRC spokeswoman added: "The Internet Radio Fairness Act does not address any exact royalty rates at all. Rather, the bill would allow the Copyright Royalty Board to evaluate internet radio royalty rates under the widely used 801(b) standard instead of the current, misleadingly-named 'willing buyer, willing seller' rate evaluation standard. The IRFA bill does not request or make a recommendation as to what a future rate for internet radio would be."

[Macfanforever]

I think most of the older generation including Stevie does not like the internet.I do understand why Stevie keeps nagging about the internet freeloaders are stealing her music without paying for it.I agree with her on that.I would be pissed too.I know how mush I love computers and the internet.I don't trust the internet to do banking,Pay bills and anything with money involve.The only purchases that I do are concert tix and Ebay transactions through Pay Pal. I already got my email hacked last March and send out embarrassing spam emails to everybody in my addy book.

The younger generation love the internet including some artists.Probably some of those artists are saying thank goodness for the internet for being discovered by music biz people and fans and got their break being on the internet.probably YouTube.

On the other hand.record companies got to stop being a money hog and pay the artists for their work.They don't make much on their song writing royalties as years pass along.


The only way to stop what is going on is to shut down the internet.LOL.Thats not going to happen.

[louielouie2000]

This proves just how out of touch many celebs are. I can't even count how many artists I've discovered through Pandora, and subsequently, how many albums I've bought through these discoveries. I've then told friends about these great new artists I've found, then some of them have also gone out and bought albums as well. These artists railing against Pandora had better be careful... Pandora could easily cut them from their programming, and that would impact the artists bottom lines fare more than they might imagine. The internet, specifically sites like Pandora, are how the younger generations are listening to & discovering music. Artists who wage war against sites like Padora are truly endangering their exposure to new fans.

[KindOfWoman90]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

This proves just how out of touch many celebs are. I can't even count how many artists I've discovered through Pandora, and subsequently, how many albums I've bought through these discoveries. I've then told friends about these great new artists I've found, then some of them have also gone out and bought albums as well. These artists railing against Pandora had better be careful... Pandora could easily cut them from their programming, and that would impact the artists bottom lines fare more than they might imagine. The internet, specifically sites like Pandora, are how the younger generations are listening to & discovering music. Artists who wage war against sites like Padora are truly endangering their exposure to new fans.

^^ That was so well put! I'm in my 20s, so I feel what many older artists don't understand is that sites like Pandora or Spotify provide them with free advertising, essentially. Same with Facebook or Myspace! In fact, I just found a new duo called North Meets South on YouTube last night. The only reason I found them was because I was listening/watching LB on Youtube, and they had done a really fabulous cover of Go Insane - here's the link if anyone's interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntHstjx7-w&feature=plcp
Well this YouTube video led me to their Facebook page, etc.
While I think piracy is wrong, all artists, young and old, need to understand how the internet is a tool. If they look at it as the enemy, they will only be doing a disservice to themselves!

[UndoingTheLaces]

Originally Posted by KindOfWoman90

In fact, I just found a new duo called North Meets South on YouTube last night. The only reason I found them was because I was listening/watching LB on Youtube, and they had done a really fabulous cover of Go Insane - here's the link if anyone's interested http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xntHstjx7-w&feature=plcp
Well this YouTube video led me to their Facebook page, etc.
While I think piracy is wrong, all artists, young and old, need to understand how the internet is a tool. If they look at it as the enemy, they will only be doing a disservice to themselves!

Just out of curiosity, have you purchased any music by North Meets South since discovering them on YouTube?