Battle lines are being drawn between podcasters and music rights holders, from news we've received this week. The Register reports that Dutch record labels are rejecting a podcast license proposal, claiming that a flat rate for all podcasters is unreasonable. I think that objection belies a rift between the two camps that is more volatile, far-reaching and indicative of an international showdown than the article suggests. This could be the week that changed music podcasting forever.
In his November 7th Daily Source Code (#275), Adam Curry talks about his discussions with the Dutch record industry and performing rights organization. The message he got from them, he says, is: "They're going to come after podcasters. And they're going to shut them down." That alone caused a lot of music podcasters to sit up and pay attention. Any coordinated offensive by the recording industry to squelch unlicensed content would leave us with a huge fight on our hands, one that would touch Apple, Yahoo, and many of the companies in the nascent podcasting industry.
The outcome of that incident is a conversion for Curry and his show. "We do not want these guys descending on us and making trouble," he says. So from now on, Curry will only be playing music licensed through the Podsafe Music Network, run by his company, Podshow. No longer will the Hit Test, Backtracks, or other uses of non-podsafe music be found on the Daily Source Code. He has also removed old episodes that contained such content.
So the Podfather has been squeezed by the recording industry. Why now? Is it because he now has a wider distribution than many terrestrial DJs? Do they want leverage for future negotiations on a podcasting license? Or are they just a little late in trying to knife the baby? Who will be next to drop non-podsafe music from their show? Are any of the alternate licensing models floating around ready to challenge or supplant the existing industry titans?
The questions come in a steady stream from there: are they emboldened now that they have in Podshow a company worth suing? And what's the role of, say, the RIAA in all this? Are they merely watching with interest to see how this plays out, or will we see them stepping up the rhetoric as well?
On the podcasters Yahoo Group, Dave Jackson assesses the state of things succinctly: "You must be this tall to piss off the RIAA." Well said. Podcasting isn't quite grown up yet, but it's been standing in line at the amusement park, and it's soon to be in for the ride of its life.
There'll be lots more talk about this situation at the Portable Media Expo this Friday. I'll be on a panel along with CC Chapman, Gerd Leonhard, Derrick Oien, and Kelli Richards talking about the future of music licensing. See you there.
Alex Williams
Matt May
Nicole Simon
Roland Tanglao
1. Nicole Simon on November 9, 2005 09:11 AM writes...
In Germany, we are trying to get the local licensing company Gema to give us a licence we can use.
Problem is: most podcasters don't realize that the music industry and their licensing bodies play on a totally different level. They don't want to make it easy for us to podcast, but "sell" music. They don't care if I make money through it or not.
What it boils down to - and this is what Curry is showing too - is that we stay away from such music because it is too complicated, too expensive, too dangerous to play them. And we do have a market now, a big one.
They can play without us, but we also can play without them. We do have a lot of choices out there and driving the biggest show in the game (I think Curry has to be seen that way) to the "non riaa market" is quite unclever.
Future of music licensing will be very interesting; question is if the traditional industry will play a leading role or just a minor one in the long run.
Permalink to Comment2. Paul Puri on November 9, 2005 05:50 PM writes...
Nicole hit it on the head. The music industry has decided to opt out of podcasting. Therefore they are now irrelavent. There is already enough music out there that no one would notice anyway. With almost 5000 individual songs on the podsafe music network, I could have a show everyday for 7 years! And it grows everyday. And the music isn't suffering from the same cookie cutter content syndrome that is heard on the radio these days. podcasting is the new media, and the major labels know this, but they are still set in their antiquated and tired business model. RIP RIAA.
Permalink to Comment3. Dave Campbell on November 9, 2005 11:44 PM writes...
If anyone thinks they can wrap their head around this thing and do something real, the URL Podsafe.net could be made available. Serious inquiries only, but creative arrangements considered. Greenbacks work well, too.
Permalink to Comment4. Pete Davis on November 10, 2005 06:35 AM writes...
The initial focus should be on indie artists who aren't tied to the RIAA. Build the community, prove the model works, then the record companies will follow. Remember the payola scandal with Sony? Podcasting is the alternative to getting their artists promoted via becoming potential advertisers/sponsors of podcasts. It's a win/win for everyone. We are seriouly interested on making this work for our customers and music partners.
Permalink to Comment5. Phillip Molly Malone on November 10, 2005 05:42 PM writes...
Curry has been baiting the music industry by purposely breaking the rules of late. If you ask me, he was looking for a way to go totally PMN without pissing off his fans that like the mashups and the hit test. The added bonus for him is that he can call out "the big bad music industry" for coming down on him.
Read my post for more on this: http://www.mollyzine.com/mollyzine/2005/11/i_smell_a_curry.html
Molly
Permalink to Comment6. Marcus on November 13, 2005 02:41 AM writes...
Independent record labels will only benefit by democratized access to broadcast media. The argument isn't hard to make.
Should the adoption of podcasting mirror the adoption of blogs (http://www.sifry.com/alerts/Slide0002-1.gif), then it won't be long before the phenomenon is seriously competing with terrestrial radio. All that's required is patience. Soon, it won't be so much a matter of asking permission - even the larger labels will be begging for podcasters' attention.
But you can't buy me love:)
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