Ignore stories about online music royalty deal. The important dispute rages on.
Posted by: in General NewsYou might remember stories about how a royalty payment dispute threatened the existence of web-based radio services like Pandora and Live365. You may also have noticed headlines this week about the music industry and web-based companies reaching a deal on royalties.
It might seem logical to assume that the deal in question solved the problem you’d read about earlier. Indeed, some stories about the deal implied that it had.
But this week’s deal — while important in many ways — has nothing to do with the impasse that still threatens Pandora and its ilk.
The Byzantine complexity of the music industry forces anyone who wants to play music commercially to pay different fees to songwriters, song publishers, performers, music companies and others.
And royalty rates to each of these groups differ for different types of businesses.
Have you ever wondered why restaurants that sing happy birthday to guests never sing the traditional version of “Happy Birthday”? It’s a copyrighted song. Restaurants would owe royalties for singing the traditional version.
Anyway, if you’re really interested in learning which will see issues have been settled in which remain under dispute, the LA Times explains the basics in its blog.
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