Perfect Radio Station, Imperfect World - Page 6
January 29, 2001
Why is all this relevant to our discussion of the PRS? Because
our PRS, by allowing users complete control over their playlist,
steps over the line between Webcasting and audio on demand. If
you could listen to any audio work in the known universe, at any
time and any place, why would you ever need to buy a CD again?
Ah, so that's it! The PRS is not just a nifty gadget, but a
concept that, when it becomes reality (and it will), will
completely change the business model of the recording industry.
Now, if an idle pundit such as yours truly can figure this out,
it's plain that the various record companies have been thinking
about it for some time. They've learned from experience that
trying to get governments to outlaw or tax new technologies is a
losing battle, as is trying to impose kludgey and intrusive copy-
protection schemes.
The trouble is that they haven't yet figured out the best way to
make money from Internet-based audio on demand, and until they
do, they'll proceed cautiously. A surf through various record
company and artist sites reveals many different approaches to
making audio on demand available in a limited way. Many sites
allow excerpts of songs to be downloaded, some allow a few
selected tunes to be streamed in their entirety, and at least one
(Alligator Records)
lets you stream entire albums. But none that this writer has
found allows unrestricted access to individual cuts on an on-
demand basis, free or paid.
So, is it actually against the law to offer audio on demand?
Certainly not. If you have the copyright holder's permission, you
can do anything you please with a work. However, the RIAA, which
administers the copyrights in recorded works, makes it easy to
legally Webcast anything you please, but complex to set up legal
audio on demand for signed artists.
The details are far beyond the scope of this column, but the crux
of the matter is this (quoted from the RIAA's site):
"If you plan to offer a webcasting service, you
may be eligible for a statutory webcasting license whereas if you
plan to offer an interactive service, you will need to obtain
rights from each copyright holder."
In other words, if you are willing to program in accordance with
the RIAA's conditions for a Webcast, you can purchase, for a
reasonable fee, a blanket license that lets you use just about
any material out there. The conditions that must be met in order
to qualify for the statutory license cover things such as not
playing more than 3 songs from a particular album, or 4 by a
particular artist, within a 3-hour period, not announcing
playlists in advance, always identifying each selection played,
and so forth. Basically the characteristics of a typical radio
program.
If you want to offer recordings on a more "interactive" basis,
with the user having direct control over what selections are
played when, then you must obtain a release from the individual
copyright holder of every work you plan to use, which, even if
those releases were forthcoming, would be an incredibly complex
venture.
Note that the RIAA administers only the copyrights in recordings
themselves. The composition that underlies a recording is also
copyrighted, and those copyrights are administered by the
performing rights organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. One must
also obtain performance licenses from these organizations, as
detailed in the earlier article
Building an Internet Radio Station.
There is of course nothing to prevent a record company (or other
holder of a copyright) to offer their own products on an audio on
demand basis. As noted above, none yet do so, except in limited
ways. As music distribution moves online, however, and physical
media become obsolete, they will have no choice but to do so.
This means that they are going to have to deal with the copying
issue one way or another. Interesting times indeed!
Of course, as this and many other writers have noted, the copying
issue is no either/or proposition, but a matter of degree. A CD
can be copied, and so can a Webcast. It's simply a question of
how easy it is for people to make and distribute unauthorized
copies, and how profitable it is to do so. If audio on demand can
be offered at a low price (or perhaps even free to the end user,
financed by advertising), the incentive to make illegal copies
will be correspondingly low. Thus, the advent of universal audio
on demand will almost certainly be no sudden revolution, but a
gradual process that has already begun.
And begun it most certainly has. The Perfect Radio Station
doesn't exist yet, but a few outfits are offering systems that
come pretty close. In next month's column, we'll look at the most
highly customizable Webcasting tools that now exist, and delve
into the technical realm to see how they work. Until then, keep
demanding your audio!
The Audio-On-Demand Genie - Page 5
Next Wave of the Web
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