Webcasting Rates - Sound Exhchange

This is the first in a multi-part series covering the fees college stations that webcast need to pay.


The very first and basic concept that the newbie needs to understand is that all music has some form of copyright attached to it.

The most common use, as it pertains to college stations, there is the "composition" copyright. Essentially, this copyright gives the person who created the song (lyrics, musical notes, etc.) an ownership right in what they have created. This means that the owner can control who has access to the work they have created and how much someone who uses that creative work will pay for each use of the music (creative work).

Broadcast college stations normally pay ASCAP, BMI and SESAC a "blanket" fee for the use of any and all compositions most, composers use one of these three organizations to register their creations, collect fees and then distribute the collected fees.

NOTE: This is not a course on copyright law. I will discuss issues related to college stations, nothing more based upon my experiences.

Next, we will cover additional rights, including how the composition right applies to webcasting. In additional items, we will cover sound recoding rights and ephemeral rights, as they pertain to college stations.

Will R

Religous Programming on a college station?

'Get your singing shoes on' -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

"Good morning, you're listening to WVCR's Power Praise on 88.3 The Saint. I'm Da Professor here with Brother Old School. We're here to play the best of gospel music. Get your singing shoes on!"

Later, the studio's console lights up with listeners calling in. Most are grandmotherly types, but calls start coming from younger listeners as the sun rises. Everyone's getting ready for church.

"You got me shouting in my car," one woman says.

"I'm trying to do my hair and I can't because you got me jumpin' around. Praise the Lord," cackles another.

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Does your station air religous programming? If not, why not? If you do, do you receive pressure from "other" religous groups for "equal time"? If so, how do you deal with such issues?

A Fresh Start

Here is a fresh start to a College Electronic Media Blog. The most recent version I was involved with was the CBI blog, but due to some technological and management shifts, that blog fell by the wayside. Wanting to still offer a forum for discussion of issues that isn't always appropriate for the CBI list, I decided to start this new blog.

I will try blogger for now and see if some of the compatibility issues between syndication formats still exist that might push me to try another blogging format or provider. Your input will play a role in that decision.

I hope the above offers some reason for you to comment, but I will also offer something that is somewhat universal among college radio stations, webcasting.

I, along with Joel Willer, who I will invite to participate, have been intimately involved with webcasting as it pertains to college radio. We have both authored and co-authored written comments and testimony and given oral testimony before the decision making bodies, as appropriate, concerning webcasting. Most recently, we have both provided oral testimony before the Copyright Royalty Board (aka Copyright Royalty Judges) who will set rates and terms concerning webcasting for 2006 - 2010. Michael Papish will also be invited to Join this forum and has participated in the same venues as Joel and I.

While this instant post is NOT a joint effort, I expect that after I send invitations, both Joel and Michael will become regular participants.

While all three of us tend to be the most familiar with radio and Internet matters pertaining to radio, this blog will not shy away from covering other electronic media topics which do not focus on audio only topics.

Finally, due to my past background and experiences, it is my intention to bring other great minds on these topics to the blog.

In other words, open fire with your questions! While we await I (we?) await your questions, there will be regular posts to the blog that are likely to address your concerns. Since this is a restart, the format of the blog page is likely to change, but I also realize that the page format is somewhat secondary, particularly if you pick this up as a feed.

Again, open fire!

Will R