SaveNetRadio, a coalition formed after the Copyright Royalty Board set new webcaster royalty rates in March, has enlisted jazz legends, artists and educators to urge Congress to knock out the new rates.
In a letter to House Judiciary chairman John Conyers, more than a dozen individuals urged Conyers to help save Internet radio. "As working musicians who depend on Internet radio to reach our fans and to make new ones, we are extremely concerned that the recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) will close the door to what has become an essential part of our work," they wrote. "Internet radio is one of the precious few outlets we have to reach jazz audiences and build new ones. If Internet radio dies, the future of jazz could die with it."
The letter was signed by: Kermit Ruffins, trumpeter; Dr. Michael White and Bennie Pete, Hot 8 Brass Band; Derek Shezbie, ReBirth Brass Band; Edward Kidd Jordan, director of the Heritage School of Music and the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp; Jackie Harris, director of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp; Todd Duke and James Andrews, Crescent City Allstars; Mario Madero, SpyBoy Productions; Marlon Jordan, trumpeter; Bennie Jones, Treme Brass Band; Troy ³Trombone Shorty² Andrews, Orleans Avenue; Big Chief Al Doucette, Flaming Arrows Mardi Gras Indian Tribe; David Freedman, WWOZ general manager; John Boutte, the New Orleans Social Club; Lee Arnold, Save Our Brass; Ariana Hall, the CubaNolaCollective; and Sylvester Francis, Backstreet Museum.
Representatives of SaveNetRadio, which was formed and initially funded by the Digital Media Assn. (DiMA), solicited the support in New Orleans during the annual jazz festival this week. The group is urging Congress to adopt the Internet Radio Equality Act, which would void the CRB decision for all webcasters, large and small, and adopt a new way to calculate royalties for streaming sound recordings.
By Susan Butler, Billboard
SOURCE: Billboard.biz
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