That bone-headed WXRT agreement

[@?,*???&?]

Holy crap.

I am servicing college radio and non-comm stations with 3 artists right now and I clicked through to WXRT's website (yeah, I know they are commercial) to verify the address I have in my database and came across this:

http://www.93-xrt.com/pdf/wxrt_license_ ... lease1.pdf

Didn't Clear Channel already burn in hell for this kind of shit?

WXRT a legend and the legend grows WORSE. lol

[@?,*???&?]

Here's the form to file with the FCC on this quid pro quo agreement.

An artist should not have to 'pay' for airplay by giving up royalties for airplay.

https://esupport.fcc.gov/sform2000/form ... page=2000A

CBS radio continues to amaze me with their stupidity.

[Gentleman Jim]

Once again, Jeff, it appears that you didn't actually read the document you've linked to.

It's a release, pretty standard stuff. Every band that performs live on TV or radio is supposed to sign them. Every band that has played on Saturday Night Live, Jay Leno, KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, David Letterman, World Cafe Live, Live From The Hard Rock, The King Biscuit Flower Hour... and about a thousand other radio and TV programs has signed something like this.

Yes, down at the bottom is the paragraph about not being paid for streaming and downloads. I can understand that some would see that as a deal breaker, but others would shrug and point out that it's not all that different than trying to be distributed by an mp3 podcast anyway. They would see it as a form of free promotion. After all, it's not the album track, it's a live studio recording.

Not being paid royalties is not the same as paying to have your song played.

As for the FCC document, I tried to read it but the site is messed up or the link is broken.

[@?,*???&?]

Once again, Jeff, it appears that you didn't actually read the document you've linked to.

It's a release, pretty standard stuff. Every band that performs live on TV or radio is supposed to sign them. Every band that has played on Saturday Night Live, Jay Leno, KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic, David Letterman, World Cafe Live, Live From The Hard Rock, The King Biscuit Flower Hour... and about a thousand other radio and TV programs has signed something like this.

Yes, down at the bottom is the paragraph about not being paid for streaming and downloads. I can understand that some would see that as a deal breaker, but others would shrug and point out that it's not all that different than trying to be distributed by an mp3 podcast anyway. They would see it as a form of free promotion. After all, it's not the album track, it's a live studio recording.

Not being paid royalties is not the same as paying to have your song played.

As for the FCC document, I tried to read it but the site is messed up or the link is broken.

It looks like U2 are in the studio with WXRT either this week, or soon...are you telling me they signed this? Bullshit. This is targeted at the 'unsigned, independent, artist'. It's not unlike Ecast (now defunct) having a separate royalty deal for independent artists that pays tenths of cents compared to their major label counterparts that earn tens of cents for spin in the digital jukebox age. I know that Touchtunes in Canada has a separate deal for independent artists, but I do not know if AMI/Rowe does. Music is music. Musicians are musicians. Songs are songs. Why isn't the playing field level?

[@?,*???&?]

As for the FCC document, I tried to read it but the site is messed up or the link is broken.

The link works fine. Cut and paste it into your browser.

[Gentleman Jim]

It looks like U2 are in the studio with WXRT either this week, or soon...are you telling me they signed this? Bullshit. This is targeted at the 'unsigned, independent, artist'.

Uhhh... yeah, I DO think that U2 signs something, and I bet they make CBS sign something too. It might be more of a limited license and less of a release, but there are a few lawyers who would make sure that CBS Radio is very clear about what they can and cannot do with that recording.

Do you really think there are many unsigned independent bands that are playing on CBS Radio stations? Isn't that the entire problem that you were addressing in this thread?:

http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopic.php?t=64086

Ultimately, if an unsigned independent band doesn't want to play on the station because CBS might allow people to download a track in perpetuity, they don't have to. Personally, I'd think that's a pretty boneheaded position. What's the risk vs. reward? The risk is that 10,000,000 people will download a band's track and the band won't get a penny for it while CBS profits. However, the reward is that some of those 10,000,000 people might become fans and the band would get some CD and ticket sales out of it.

And while the link still didn't work for me, I was able to hunt down what you were linking to. It's a complaint form. Have you filed a complaint with the FCC over this?

I didn't think so.

[Gentleman Jim]

By the way, I just checked out that U2 recording. 21 minutes of talking without a note of music played. Not even humming.

I don't know if that makes original point moot or not. I thought the point was moot since it's a release, so what do I know?

[hank alrich]

Music is music. Musicians are musicians. Songs are songs. Why isn't the playing field level?

Because some musicians and some songs are famous and some are not. It's that simple, and yes, the playing field is not level and never has been.

For a start on why, maybe read The People's History of the United States.