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16.3.07

Save Pandora - get out of the box

It's all going a bit pear-shaped with online radio as the Luddites in the real world start to kick against the new regime. Which means one of my favourite sites could face closure and let's face it Pandora rocks! Check it out.
This is what Pandora are saying:

A huge thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the past week as we've been hit by the stunning ruling on webcast rates. It's very heartening for us to see how much people care about this, and how willing listeners are to pitch in. And how many of you there are!!

There has been an enormous groundswell of opposition to this decision, and we've been hard at work on how to best channel the energy in the right direction. Because the webcasting community does not have an entrenched and powerful lobbying presence in DC, grassroots legislative pressure - constituents contacting their representatives - is clearly our biggest ally.

Internet radio is hostage to a blatantly discriminatory double standard that was written into the federal statute governing webcasting several years ago, following an intensive lobbying effort by the RIAA. We need to redress this, and create a more level playing field - one that of course rewards musicians for their work (I spent years in a band van myself and have always been driven by a desire to lift up musicians), and one that also understands the business realities, and benefits of online radio.

My view is that old world law is still trying to control new world reality. I listen to Pandora all the time and have bought dozens of CDs from artists I would never have come across before without the benefits of Pandora - so why squeeze it out of the market? On that matter get rid of MySpace too and fuck the Arctic Monkeys - great band though they are. In fact I am listening to Pandora now (Ry Cooder's version of Smack Dab in the Middle).
Visit Pandora and sign the petition - unfortunately it only counts for US citizens and that's another nonsense like the shit they are doing with UK-based betting websites and their directors. See this at the Wall Street Journal. That's thought guys - relocate to the UK. We have a spare office at the Wakefield Media Centre - cheap rates too!
Maybe we can do something on this with Fuelmyblog. Let me know what you think.

PS: Pandora has just started playing Star of Bethlehem by Neil Young as I write this. Life is good.

1 comment:

Geoff_Livingston said...

Seems like the old word is always trying to kill the new world cos, or buy them. It just comes down to turf battles for $. And in that sense capitalism hurts.