Aggregator

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FCC seeks comment on whether to authorize AM stations to transition to an all-digital signal on a voluntary basis.

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NEW YORK and GHANA — Headquartered in New York with key personnel based in Africa, Atunwa Digital is a digital network that advises media enterprises on monetization strategies. We develop full-scale digital marketing and advertising strategies, helping clients from planning to execution and analytics.

Two years ago, we launched our initiative to help African audio content publishers better leverage digital distribution and advertising opportunities to get the most monetization value from their content. We find that while a lot of African media enterprises have loyal, global audiences listening to their content regularly, they do not possess the in-house technical expertise nor advertising capacity to fully realize its built-in value. 

We were seeing a trend where many of these organizations were leaving revenue on the table by receiving only a small percentage back from their streaming or podcasting service provider. 

COLLABORATION

We set out to address this issue by helping creators of African content reach both their local and diaspora audiences through online streaming, with the ability to serve geo-targeted advertising to their listeners, all while taking control of their digital future. 

To do this, we needed to find an audio streaming technology provider who could supply not only the tools and infrastructure needed for online delivery, but also the support and expertise that our customers would need as they develop their own digital media autonomy. We wanted to work with a company that we could depend on for support, while collaborating with us to design the optimal streaming workflows for our clients. 

A recommendation from one of our partners led us to StreamGuys, and we determined that they would be an ideal fit. In addition to having great tools, technology and support, they were willing to deal with us on a collaborative level. We now use the complete suite of StreamGuys services and solutions, from their robust content delivery network to their analytics tools. 

At Atunwa, our advertising offerings span both programmatic and direct sales approaches, as we have established relationships with both multinational and local brands looking to reach the African demographic globally. StreamGuys’ integration with industry-leading ad platforms allows the insertion of dynamic, server-side, targeted advertising into our clients’ live streams and podcasts. 

The targeted addressability of the ads is particularly valuable in capitalizing on revenue opportunities from the African diaspora living in the United States, Europe and other markets, as that audience receives spots that are relevant to them.  

Another significant challenge faced by African content providers has been unauthorized redistribution of their content. It is crucial that content owners regain control of their streams and have visibility into their daily earnings. Unauthorized usage leads to revenue being taken away from the original content owners. 

StreamGuys’ tools including the SGPassKey system enable our clients’ streams to be restricted to authorized distribution partners and are also integrated into StreamGuys’ embeddable SGplayer media player, giving us end-to-end security for both affiliate and consumer delivery. 

The SGrecast live stream repurposing system enables our clients to turn live productions into on-demand podcasts, with automatic template-based publishing ensuring they are submitted correctly to aggregators. The fact that StreamGuys’ dynamic advertising capabilities are unified across both live streams and podcasts is advantageous; rather than managing two separate systems, podcasts just become a seamless extension of live operations.

The results of working with StreamGuys have been impressive. As an example, they have enabled us to deliver over tenfold growth in the monetization of radio content online for respected Ghanaian media organization Multimedia Group Limited, as well as significantly growing their digital traffic by taking back control of their content. Across five key MGL stations, monthly total listener hours increased by 152% and monthly cume by 96% in their first month of full operation with StreamGuys, and both metrics more than tripled over the past 18 months.

There has always been significant value in African content providers’ programming. Our goal with Atunwa is to build a digital network whereby we become the most trusted monetization source for African content publishers and the resource for brands/advertisers looking to connect with African audiences globally. StreamGuys’ streaming technology and expertise have allowed our clients’ digital media operations to become more independent, unlocking that value through the power of digital advertising. 

For information, contact StreamGuys at 1-707-667-9479 or visit www.streamguys.com.

The post User Report: StreamGuys Helps Atunwa Digital Help Broadcasters appeared first on Radio World.

The studio of WXOX, a low-power FM in Louisville, Ky., features a mural by Wilfred Sieg of the Art Cartel. WXOX is among the stations that filed comments to the FCC.

The low-power FM service in the United States has grown to more than 2,100 stations. Advocates say it has matured to the point that those stations should have an opportunity to improve their signals through technical upgrades.

The FCC is considering a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would, among other things, allow for more widespread use of directional antennas by LPFM stations. Currently the rules allow LPFMs to use directional antennas under special circumstances, including as part of a second adjacent waiver request or for LPFMs licensed for public safety purposes. The commission is also proposing to allow LPFMs to use boosters.

The approximate service range of a 100 watt LPFM station is about 3.5 miles, according to the FCC.

DIVERSITY & LOCALISM

Advocates say the commission was understandably conservative at the outset of the service almost two decades ago, authorizing small coverage areas with very low powers and height, and imposing strict transmitter requirements. Now, they say, LPFM deserves additional engineering options to improve reception. 

Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wrote in a blog post this year: “When the commission launched the service in 2000, it designed LPFM requirements to be simple. The purpose was to make it easier for non-profit organizations with limited engineering expertise and small budgets to readily apply for, construct and operate stations service highly localized areas.”

Pai said the NPRM includes changes to increase flexibility while maintaining interference protection and the core LPFM values of diversity and localism.

The proposed rules would not be “a carte blanche for all LPFMs” to use directional antennas, said Michi Bradley, founder of REC Networks and an LPFM advocate who has pushed for rule changes.

Bradley said the main beneficiaries of the change would be a handful of LPFM stations near the Mexican border. Currently, stations within the Mexican border strip zone, within 125 kilometers, are limited to 50 watts ERP non-directional, Bradley said. 

[Read more stories from the Nov. 20 issue of Radio World]

“The proposal would add a third category to allow LPFM stations to use DAs to limit power to 50 watts or less along radials that are within 125 km of the border and to allow the full 100 watts in directions away from Mexico,” Bradley said.

Another aspect of the proposed directional antenna changes is to permit, in certain cases, the use of composite directional antennas, as opposed to off-the-shelf models. 

“This would give LPFM stations more flexibility to use antennas, such as the Nicom BKG-77, which are not listed in the FCC’s standard pattern list, as well as use multiple skewed antennas in order to maximize coverage while still protecting second adjacents or meeting international agreements.”

The FCC in its NPRM stated that it doesn’t think the use of DAs will be widespread: “We believe that directional antennas, whether off-the-shelf or custom models, will not be used widely in the LPFM service due to their higher cost and limited necessity. Nevertheless, the use of such antennas could, if properly engineered, provide significant flexibility to LPFM licensees subject to international agreements and to those that must relocate in areas with few available transmitter sites.” 

The FCC is also contemplating a new definition for LPFM minor changes to include those that involve overlapping 60 dBu contours of the station’s existing and proposed facilities or a move of 5.6 km or less.

In addition, the proposal would allow LPFM stations to retransmit their signals over FM booster stations without a waiver in order to fill in terrain-associated gaps in service. REC believes very few LPFM stations would benefit from having FM boosters but that in some cases it may help fill in certain gaps in challenged coverage areas.

EXPERT ASSISTANCE

A Radio World review of comments filed through early November showed many commenters urging the FCC to adopt the technical upgrades. 

Steven White, director of Triangle Access Broadcasting, Inc., said the FCC’s original goal of installing simple technical rules made sense under the circumstances.      

“What became apparent was that, while the LPFM rules are comparatively simple, expert assistance was still required for many organizations that just don’t happen to have the right balance of people within themselves,” he wrote.

“If technical services are required anyway, then it is only proper to make the fullest use of those services and maximize the use of spectrum achieved with directional antennas.”

Veteran broadcast engineer Dana Puopolo wrote, “I support this proposal because it is well past time the commission stop treating low-power FM stations as second-class citizens. No other class of full-power FM station, translator or booster has the amount of technical restrictions as low-power FM stations do.

“For example, no other FM facility is restricted to such a small operating power, use of directional antennas, certification requirements for transmitters, use of an arbitrary 12 kilometer buffer and other restrictions as low-power FM stations are. The low-power FM service has become a mature service. It should be allowed the same rights (and responsibilities) as any other FM service.”

[NJBA: FCC Must Protect Full-Power Stations]

The Inge Davidson Foundation, licensee of WZML(LP) Bryn Mawr, Pa., wrote in support. 

“For far too long, low-power FM stations have been at the bottom of the pecking order. No other class of full-power FM station, translator or booster has as many restrictions as low-power FM stations do,” said Linda Davidson, chairwoman of the foundation.

Mike Starling, president and GM of Cambridge Community Radio and WHCP(LP) in Cambridge, Md., expressed support for the “common-sense LPFM technical improvements outlined in MB docket No. 19-193.” Starling is a former director of technical operations at NPR.

VOICING CONCERNS

Other commenters, including full-power broadcasters, expressed concern about increased crowding in the FM band.

Representatives of Entercom Communications met with Chairman Pai recently and said that “certain modifications to the LPFM technical rules proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking … could bring increased congestion to the FM dial leading to interference to full-power stations,” according to a public filing.

The New Jersey Broadcasters Association reminded the commission of the need to “adhere to the obligations of secondary broadcast services” as it proceeds.

“Specifically, the obligation that secondary services not interfere with full-power radio broadcast stations,” the NJBA wrote. “In addition, the need for further expansion and competition from LPFM services is dubious at best — given that the radio broadcasting industry has already been subjected to increased competition from the recently-enacted FM translator rule changes, digital media, satellite radio, podcasts, internet and other media sources.”

The National Association of Broadcasters told the FCC, “NAB is concerned that the proposal to allow LPFM licensees expanded use of directional antennas could cause interference to full-service FM stations. We further object to the commission’s proposal to grant a blanket authorization to LPFM operators to use boosters,” the association wrote.

[Buffer Compromise Would Boost FM Class C4]

In addition, NAB supported the commission’s rejection of proposals to allow LPFM stations to increase power above 100 watts, which was suggested in REC Networks’ petition. 

REC Networks has asked the FCC to reconsider 250-watt stations (LP-250). Under its proposal, Bradley said, LP-250 would only be available as an upgrade to already licensed LP-100 stations and be considered a minor change. In addition, any LPFM station proposing LP-250, FM translator relief or LPFM-to-LPFM short-spacing would be subject to an interference remediation rule similar to the one recently adopted by the FCC for FM translators.

“REC’s LP-250 proposal has been refined for many years, taking into consideration the input of NAB, EMF [Educational Media Foundation] and other opponents, and is statutorily sound,” Bradley contended.  

Numerous LPFM broadcasters, filing comments on the current petition, also brought up a desire for LP-250 to better serve local communities. 

[Is There an Afterlife for “Franken” FMs?]

Sharon Scott, president of WXOX(LP), a volunteer community radio station on 97.1 MHz in Louisville, Ken., commented on her support for the boost to 250 watts. 

“While reviewing LPFM rules, we hope you will consider increasing our maximum allotted power from 100 watts to 250 watts of effective radiated power at 100 feet height above average terrain. This modest increase would greatly improve our ability to deliver the diverse voices of our community to those whom it matters the most,” Scott wrote. 

Park Public Radio, which holds the license for KPPS(LP) in St. Louis Park, Minn., wrote, “Proposed rules do not substantially help the needs of incumbent LPFM broadcasters, and further reforms are necessary to address the unfavorable rules that LPFM operators face versus FM translator operators.” KPPS’ Jeff Sibert said he believes the commission should reconsider its tentative rejection of an LP-250 service. 

Comment on this or any story. Email radioworld@futurenet.com with “Letter to the Editor” in the subject field.

The post LPFM Stations Seek Technical Upgrades appeared first on Radio World.

Mayah Communications has set a new marketing and development cooperation with Ferncast GmbH, the company announced on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Detlef Wiese is CEO of Mayah.

Mayah, which has crafted ISDN and IP audio codecs, is now moving into cloud and virtual machine applications, something that Ferncast has experience with from their products based on aixtream technology.

“Mayah is bringing its experience and knowledge of the market, while Ferncast develops innovative broadcast solutions with their highly skilled developers team of PhD and Msc with a close relation to the RWTH Aachen University and the Institute of Communication Systems (IKS),” said Dr. Hauke Krüger, CEO of Ferncast.

“The Ferncast team is creative, dynamic  and experienced at the same time,” said Detlef Wiese, CEO of Mayah.

Dr. Hauke Krüger is CEO of Ferncast

“It is a pleasure to work with them and an exciting big step for the broadcasting industry. I am sure the customers will benefit from this cooperation and the resulting innovative professional audio solutions.”

The post Mayah Communications, Ferncast Announce Strategic Alliance appeared first on Radio World.

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Granted transfer of control and assignment of broadcast licenses from subsidiaries of Cox Enterprises, Inc., and NBI Holdings, LLC, to Terrier Media Buyer, Inc., and associated divestitures

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Media Bureau issues Declaratory Ruling under 310(b)(4)

The author is membership program director of the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. NFCB commentaries are featured regularly at www.radioworld.com.

For years, radio and digital have been considered rivals. Could there now be the start of a new alliance, particularly for community media?

The growth of smart speaker audiences has been covered exhaustively by many outlets. NPR and Edison Research issued a joint report in the summer. And, throughout noncommercial media, there is a quiet anxiety about the Echo Dots, Google Home Minis and other appliances … well, dotting many an American home. Why?

Attitudes about smart audio among radio professionals vary. Some people see smart speakers as an existential threat to radio. Other people see smart speakers as privacy encroachments they’d never use. But increasing numbers of Americans — well over 70 million units are in U.S. residences now — say smart speakers are essential devices they can’t live without. Such ubiquity indicates smart speakers are here to stay. Community radio only eschews adaptation at the steep cost of relevance.

[Read: Community Broadcaster: All-Podcast Radio]

Through apps like Stitcher, iHeart and TuneIn, most community radio stations are already present on smart speakers, thanks to integrations Apple, Amazon and Google have with such tools. But smart speaker innovation is fast, and the devices do far more than stream radio stations these days.

That’s why Google’s latest announcement could invigorate community media organizations nationwide. Many of these local institutions have fascinating local coverage, but do not have the technical muscle.

Enter Google with an intriguing proposal.

In a Nov. 19 press release, Google unveiled a new initiative using its Google Assistant framework, available through its Google Home family of smart speakers as well as its operating system built into millions of Android smartphones. When you tell your smart speaker or enabled smartphone to play the news, you will get a blend of news stories tailored to your location, user history and preferences. News stories are all just a few minutes long.

The game-changing endeavor has been led by public media veteran Brenda Salinas Baker. Many people know Salinas as a dynamic leader in the noncommercial media system. Her passion for an informed public and educational broadcasting has shone brightly for years. With a variety of commercial and noncommercial content providers baked in at launch, the commitment to providing users with a diversity of media choices shines just as brightly.

Ostensibly, you’ll get more local media served up to you, and far more options as this initiative grows. A Google blog post reads, “Over the past year, we worked with publishers from around the world … to think through the future of audio news. Together, we built a prototype that brings the artificial intelligence of Google News to the voice context of the Assistant.”

Here is where community radio may come in.

Google has opened up the platform for community and other media news producers to join in this endeavor. You can visit the Audio News experience form to submit a feed or feeds for consideration. Note the guidelines for publishers. Your news submissions must adhere to length and other guidelines. For community media organizations already producing local news, these rules should be easy to abide by.

There may be radio loyalists who would blanch at the suggestion that Google curating short-form, location-based audio for users is good news for stations. Yet the tide has been shifting on from-the-box radio listenership for awhile. Ultimately, community radio stations are the content and engagement business. The platform is less relevant to the audiences, and donors, we hope to create relationships with.

A virtually no-cost entry into the devices people already love with a company many trust is an offer that does not come around often. Are community radio stations willing to reshape their fortunes? Those decisions are now in the hands of our most courageous local media leaders.

The post Community Broadcaster: “Google, Play Me Community Radio” appeared first on Radio World.

Waves Audio has shipped Waves SuperRack plug-in processing software for live sound and broadcast engineers.

The software plug-in rack allows users run up to 128 audio channels through multiple instances of Waves plug-ins with low latency and customization options for adapting it to the user’s mixing workflow.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

SuperRack operates in a SoundGrid Audio-over-Ethernet network, processing audio on a dedicated SoundGrid DSP server, which moves plug-in processing from the host computer to an external DSP server in order to increase plug-in count, minimize latency, and enable the host and I/O devices to be situated far apart from each other.

According to Waves, users can run plug-ins in real time, customize a workspace with floating windows, set extended-scope snapshots and more.

Based around a multitouch-friendly graphic interface, SuperRack allows users to view and control multiple plug-in instances simultaneously and expand their workspace to up to four monitors. Up to a dozen of the user’s top priority plug-ins per snapshot can be called up in the Hot Plug-Ins panel, and all plugs’ parameters can be adjusted with a “Touch & Slide” fader — among other features

Info: www.waves.com

The post Waves Audio Ships SuperRack Plug-in appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission likes the idea of giving U.S. stations on the AM band an option to turn off their analog transmissions and instead use only HD Radio. It recently said it would consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking recommending that change. Now the commission has officially done so.

The vote was unanimous, though at least one commissioner expressed concerns over the details of technical standards.

While the decision to issue the NPRM is not surprising, given the announcement of a couple of weeks ago, the vote seems to mark a significant advance toward an outcome where AM owners would have the digital choice. Only one U.S. radio station, owned by Hubbard Radio, operates full-time in all-digital, and does so under special temporary authority.

Advocates think having an all-digital option would be a boon to AM stations, many of which are troubled by economic challenges, band noise and lack of listener interest. Some see it as a logical addition to the AM revitalization effort, bringing benefits like metadata displays that most AM stations currently don’t have, in addition to better sound quality. And some observers, if fewer in number, wonder whether widespread migration to all-digital could substantially revitalize the AM band someday, making it prime spectrum real estate again.

Anecdotally, some critics have worried that a change that would make most existing receivers unable to hear a given radio station is premature, and/or they have voiced worries over the interference implications. That’s a touchy subject, given HD Radio’s less than stellar reputation among AM engineers, dating to the early days of putting hybrid digital on AM. The NPRM process should give more insight into what opposition may exist, if any, and from whom. It should tell us more about how AM owners themselves, big and small, come down on the idea.

“Many AM stations experience interference from electronic devices and other sources that affects audio quality,” the FCC stated in its announcement. “All-digital broadcasting offers AM broadcasters the potential to improve their signal quality and area of listenable coverage, as well as offer additional services that FM broadcasters currently offer, such as song and artist identification. It also holds the potential to allow AM stations to increase their programming options to include music formats.”

In the NPRM the FCC also proposes establishing operating parameters for all-digital stations, to minimize risk of interference; and it proposed adopting what it called the “industry-approved standard” for hybrid and all-digital broadcasting, meaning HD Radio.

[Read: Downs Hails FCC Announcement on All-Digital]

The National Association of Broadcasters applauded the move and said in its statement that “many” AM broadcasters are exploring the potential benefits.

Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has been particularly involved in issues involving the radio industry. Reacting to the vote, O’Rielly noted that he’d participated in a Texas Association of Broadcasters event with Bryan Broadcasting Corp.’s Ben Downs, an ardent supporter of AM revitalization and the person who petitioned the FCC to get going on this topic earlier this year.

“Assuming this item goes to final order, it remains to be seen whether digital AM signals will ever catch on with manufacturers, and more importantly, listeners, or serve as a significant factor in the band’s revitalization,” O’Rielly wrote after the vote.

“But our record clearly demonstrates that many in the industry would very much like to at least have a chance to test this approach, without having to obtain an experimental license. We need to give them that opportunity.”

O’Rielly did sound a note of caution. “When it comes to adopting specific technical standards, I do continue to have serious reservations regarding this approach, as the commission also adopted specific standards in the early 2000s. That said, on this and other questions, I will follow the comments received closely and look forward to seeing whether the option to transition to all-digital modes does, in fact, allow stations to have a greater and more effective reach among the listening public.”

Radio World explored the possible implications of this last March; read the ebook here.

 

The post FCC Officially Proposes to Allow All-Digital on U.S. AM Band appeared first on Radio World.

The console has long been at the center of the radio broadcast studio. Today that paradigm is being challenged by new ways of thinking about audio, digital management and the user interface.

Radio World’s latest ebook asks:

What will the console of the future look like — if we use one at all? What do virtualization and cloud technology mean for console users and studio designers? What does the next generation of user interface look like?

And because a physical surface remains a key component at most stations, we also ask: What functions and features are being offered on new models that engineers should know about? How have AoIP technology developments been reflected in the look and function of physical surfaces? How vibrant is the marketplace for analog consoles? How long will manufacturers of analog consoles support them? What options are available in the market to support brands that are no longer manufactured?

Answering our questions are Mark Simpson, Jason Ornellas, Michael LeClair, Jay Tyler, Matt Lightner, Roberto Tejero, Marty Sacks, Clark Novak, Henry Goodman, Eric Hoppe, Tag Borland, Ben Palmer and Daniel Hyatt. Read it here.

The post Trends in Consoles appeared first on Radio World.

Here we go again!

Every Congress, a few well meaning, but misinformed legislators, appear to forget that they represent the people of their districts and not the foreign-owned record companies, and introduce in one form or another, the toxic performance royalty fee legislation commonly known as the “Performance Tax.”

It does no one any good at all, least of all the vast and diverse audiences our free-over-the-air broadcasters serve, and helps stifle the creative growth and opportunities for success of emerging artists, while destroying the best thing that ever happened to our multi-faceted, shared culture: the free-over-the-air delivery of all forms of entertainment, local news, EAS warnings, AMBER Alerts and most of all — music, to everyone, for free —no matter your social status or place of origin—radio!

Broadcast radio is enjoyed by almost everyone in America. For almost one hundred years, Americans have had a love affair with broadcast radio. And for good reason. Its bold, diverse, endearing, expandable, compact, ubiquitous, portable, lovable, affordable, and incontrovertible value as the most ubiquitous source of news, information and diverse entertainment available to everyone, and all for free.

No download charges, no subscription fees, and no license fees for the end user. It informs and binds us, it makes us laugh, it heals our wounds, it provides comfort and lifesaving information in times of crises, and oh yeah—it’s always on!

But the wrongheaded measures pushed by some who insist on squeezing every dime out of a broadcaster’s craft that they can would tamper with this timeless recipe for universal happiness.

[As Legislation Sits in Senate, Pirate Activity Continues in Force]

But much more horrifying; these Performance Royalty Taxes would destroy radio as we know it, and indeed harm everyone; artists, composers, communities, broadcasters and most sadly, everyone who enjoys radio today—about 300 million of our friends, family, neighbors and co-workers in America alone — the very constituents that these legislators are supposed to serve.

The good news is that support for the Local Radio Freedom Act supporting local radio continues to be strong in the House and the Senate. Currently, more than 200 Members of the House are on record in opposition to a performance tax.

New Jersey Broadcasters would like to express our deep appreciation to our Congressmen for their courageous leadership in previously opposing this unfair and wrongheaded tax. These Legislators are to be applauded for their early recognition and constant vigil over free-over-the-air radio’s service to the local communities they represent across the Garden State.

However, the NJBA was always convinced that a stealth attack on free over-the-air-radio was very possible, as we saw with this week’s introduction of two P-Tax bills in Congress.

In New Jersey, local radio is very, very important, and the prospect of a Performance Tax is akin to a Death Tax for broadcasters.

[Are Higher Music Licensing Costs Cued Up?]

The P-Tax would demand exorbitant royalty fees from broadcasters to pay for the a few record labels failed business models. And these new royalty fees would be on top of the billions the radio industry already pays in royalties to artists and songwriters through ASCAP, BMI and SEASAC! In these challenging economic times (or in any economic model), can any industry afford such confiscatory increases in net operating costs?) And the public would gain no return for the fees taken. No community service, no public announcements, no lifesaving Amber Alerts or EAS warnings. Nothing at all but making a few more millionaires and billionaires richer, and all at the public’s expense.

Nevertheless, the unavoidable result of the Performance Tax’s passage is much more than merely wreaking economic havoc on local radio stations. The passage of the bill would force the closing of a majority of local radio stations in New Jersey and across the country. To be sure, the prospect of enhanced opportunities for localism, diversity and outreach would be immediately hushed. Station groups and networks would be hurt, as well. Localism would be out the window and thousands in New Jersey would lose their jobs.

Moreover, local merchants, businesses, government officials, politicians, and community groups would be without a voice and an affordable, effective outlet to market their goods and services to their obvious customers and constituencies.

But this is all not about dollars; It is about common sense.

[Music, Royalties and Communities — Walking the Walk]

Much more horrific, the closure of these vital broadcast outlets across America would also decimate our Emergency Alert Warning System capabilities and pose a genuine threat to homeland security. And for what? So a few greedy foreign owned record companies can try to line their coffers with more American dollars, taking billions out of our economy? And worse, the move would directly or indirectly, wipe out hundreds of thousands of jobs in the United States.

Moreover, a new oppressive Performance-Tax would hurt emerging artists who might not ever get their music on the air if stations have to pay a fee every time a new song is played.

Performing artists almost universally recognize the honest and incomparable value only broadcast radio air-play adds to their industry and business model. The record label’s recognition of the unparalleled promotional value of radio airplay contradicts statements made by recording industry representatives in Washington.

Our two industries have worked perfectly together for decades. Certainly, no artist would ever have an opportunity to become famous and successful absent their natural symbiotic partnership with free-over-the- air-radio! This symbiosis evinces the inescapable conclusion that both sides are benefiting. Why do you think local stations across the country are bombarded every day with sample CD’s MP3s, and “demos” by emerging artists (and seasoned veteran artists) begging station managers to play their new tune? It’s because broadcasters and artists genuinely “get it.” It’s how they sell records, (yes, vinyl records are making a comeback) CDs, downloads, video and merchandise.

Worse, the P-Tax’s foreseeable fractionalization of collaborative artists could hurt everyone associated with the creative process and diminish the very projects or songs they want to promote to be successful. It’s a recipe for collusion, litigation, division, unfairness, and disaster.

[NAB Adds Broadcast Essentials to Education Resources]

So you see, a new Performance Tax imposed on radio stations by record companies would only be biting the very hand that feeds them.

Equally disturbing is the disingenuous comparison of broadcast radio to internet providers and pay/subscription audio entertainment programming and fees paid by satellite radio. The proponents of this legislation want us all to be alike – just because Cable, Satellite and Internet services pay these royalties. But we are not alike!

Remember how radio stations helped warn and serve New Jersians crushed by SANDY? Well, New Jersians do. Free over-the-air radio & television are the only exclusively local media in existence! Did you ever see a pure-play or satellite station sponsor a little league team or do a food drive for a local charity?

Our cherished stewardship of the public airways is a public trust, and no industry is more publically spirited than broadcast. We have a very different mission, mainly to operate in the public interest; from the sustaining value we provide for the EAS for local emergency notification such as NJ Amber Alerts, and in response to community-wide emergencies like Superstorm Sandy, ice and snow storms, and other extreme weather hazards, to local news of community events and happenings in entertainment in an amazing variety of formats.

The internet and satellite applications referred to in mislabeled “equitable royalty fee” arguments (and the specious claim of pure-play “radio” designations) do not provide such essential public services, nor are they designed or equipped to do so.

[Does 5G Make Sense for Radio]

Compared to free radio’s 300 million listeners in the United States alone, satellite and subscription services reach less than 10% of radio’s ever expanding and diverse listening base. And radio’s service is free! Think about how many people in today’s tough economy can afford to pay to hear radio in the first place. (By the way, if anyone wants to see the effects of wrongheaded Performance fees, just look at the 30%+ increase in satellite’s monthly subscription fees for royalties and the “going dark” of some radio stations’ streaming audio on the net, due largely in part to the ever-increasing royalties charged to stream content.)

And to lay to rest the specious argument that the performing artists will get any money from the new Performance Tax, all you need to do is review the typical recording contract any new artist is “forced” to sign if they want to get their coveted “record deal.” It often provides for very little compensation to flow to the artist after record production and promotion costs are re-cooped.

More disturbingly, many artists complain about the notorious greed of the industry itself. In a surreal report released a few weeks after Michael Jackson’s death, it was revealed that the King of Pop told interviewers that it was “Time for artists to take a stand against record labels.” In a video interview filmed by director Brett Ratner, Michael Jackson “lashed out at record labels. Asked about his greatest lesson learned, Jackson replied: “Not to trust everybody in the industry. There are a lot of sharks, and record companies steal. They cheat. I have to audit them. And it’s time for artists to take a stand against them.” Bravo, Michael.

[50 Broadcast Groups to FCC: Remove Obsolete EEO Rules]

Finally, our great New Jersey Broadcaster Association represents much more than the radio and television industry in the Garden State. We also represent the vast and diverse audiences that our members so ably serve. We represent the people, and we stand with them. We respectfully ask all of Congress to the same. It’s the right thing to do.

So keep listening New Jersey! Let’s defeat this Performance Tax and let’s keep New Jersey radio free for all to enjoy!

The post Rotella: Radio Performance Tax Does More Harm than Good appeared first on Radio World.