RADIO HANNIBAL

New Show 5/19/07

Ok, so as you may or may not know, congress has now gotten involved in the internet broadcasters royalty act because they realize it for what it is.  A way for the large and powerful to shut down all but their own.  In other words, they want to control all of it.  Fat chance!
I've finally settled into new studios and am back broadcasting again.  I felt like celebrating by doing a show the old fashioned way.  This means a real time show.  Not just copying/pasting songs and voice tracks. 
I yearned for the real deal.  The art of the segue.  The urgency of hearing the song while jocking. 
I'm trying something new this time.  Simply click here. Then look toward the bottom of the page for the flashing arrow pointing to the download link.  Click on that link and a window will pop up asking if you want to open or save.  I suggest clicking save to a folder. It'll take awhile to download, but once it does you'll have the show in MP3 format on your PC.  You can listen to it via your favorite player, dump it onto your iPod or rip it to a CD.  How cool is that!
Full disclosure.  The RIAA frowns on this to say the least.  Here's my  take on it.  1)  Call it my  small stab at their plan to lay waste  to internet broadcasters.  They have come out saying that internet radio does nothing for marketing their music.  That is a bold faced lie.  Look to yourselves to confirm that BS.
2)  This type of production allows me to mix real time and not only is it more fun but makes for a better program.  And, you can listen when and where you want.
3)  Sure, this is an MP3 file and not a stream, but this type of show and the way it's mixed does not allow you to extract complete single songs.  It is one track.  Yes, there are programs you could use to cut it up into pieces, but, because of the segues, making clean songs is not possible.
4)  The bottom line is you will enjoy the show that much more and thus be more inclined to buy some of the music you hear.  No marketing value my ass.

Of course this is merely an experiment and I am putting myself at some risk.  But it sure is fun doing shows this way.
There are programs/software that allow one to do real time with the meta data the RIAA wants on a web stream but I haven't gotten that savvy yet.  And at this point I'd prefer to wait on the outcome of the royalties act before investing more money into a project that I derive no money from.  Presently, I do it for the mere joy of turning you on to new music.  I believe that's called marketing.
Sorry for getting a bit technical and I'm certain this new delivery system may be a bit too complicated for some.  If you have any questions drop me an email.  If you have any comments please post here or drop me an email. 
As always, enjoy!
Set list:
Arcade Fire - Intervention
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
Morrissey - I Will See You In Far Off Places
The Cure - Pictures Of You
Bjork - Earth Intruders
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (live)
Fountains Of Wayne - Planet Of Weed
David Bowie - Starman
Ben Lee - Catch My Disease
The Shins - Phantom Limb
Maroon 5 - Won't Go Home Without You
Matthew Sweet and Suzanna Hoffs - Different Drum
Amy Winehouse - Me and Mr. Jones
The Pretenders - Kid (demo)
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Talking Heads - Don't Worry About The Government
Kings Of Leon - Charmer

PD does story on royalties act

The Plain Dealer's Tom Feran did a short piece on the internet radio royalties act.  Yours truly was quoted and made to blush!
Here's the story:
INTERNET

Webcasters fight hike in music royalty rates

Monday, May 07, 2007

Tom Feran

Plain Dealer Reporter

"The day the music died" has been postponed -- and the delay could be long enough to keep it from arriving at all.

The day, originally Tuesday, May 15, marks the start of dramatically higher rates for music royalties that would silence most Internet radio stations. But the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board, which announced the new rates in March, last week pushed the effective date to Sunday, July 15. Webcasters hope the reprieve will give enough time for Congress to intervene.

Hundreds of Webcasters had planned to make Tuesday a "Day of Silence" as a preview of the royalty impact and as an alert to the 50 million Americans who listen to Web radio each month.

"We thought this was going to be one week before we were bankrupted," said Kurt Hanson, an organizer of the Day of Silence as publisher of the Radio and Internet Newsletter and operator of accuradio.com.

But he was encouraged by a "Hill walk" last week when dozens of Webcasters met congressional staffers to lobby for the Internet Radio Equality Act.

The bipartisan legislation would give Internet radio the same royalty rate as satellite radio -- 7.5 percent of revenue -- and said the Day of Silence was "put off to the right moment."

In its March decision, the Copyright Royalty Board, a three-judge panel of the Library of Congress, had changed the online royalty rate from a percentage of revenue to a per-song, per-listener fee. A different structure from what is used for terrestrial radio or satellite radio, it would have hiked fees from 300 percent to 1,200 percent, Webcasters say.

Terrestrial FM and AM stations pay music royalties that go to songwriters through the agencies the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; Broadcast Music Inc.; and the Society of European Stage Authors & Composers. Webcasters pay an additional performance fee that goes to record companies through Sound Exchange, an offshoot of the Recording Industry Association of America. Sound Exchange lobbied for the new rates.

The new Internet radio fees, retroactive to the start of last year, would cover small, noncommercial operators, public broadcasters and Internet simulcasts of terrestrial radio in addition to the Web's biggest players.

Spokesman Bob Burford of WKSU FM/89.7 said the public station has three online-only streams that include a 24-hour classical music service and folkalley.com.

"The greatest impact would be on folk music," he said.

For that service alone, he said, WKSU estimated it would owe $48,000 in fees for 2006 and $66,000 for 2007, with higher rates in each year afterward.

Hanson said his 300-channel accuradio. com last year paid 11.5 percent of revenue, or $48,000, in royalties. For 2006, he said, "Under the ruling, we owed $600,000. There's no business that can survive if one of its expenses is 150 percent of revenues."

Even the largest Webcasters, such as Yahoo and AOL, would have to pay 50 percent to 60 percent of revenue, he said.

John Hannibal, a designer of sound and video systems, plays mostly new pop and rock on radiohannibal.com, which has been called "the hippest station in Cleveland." He gives exposure to music not on the playlists of conventional radio stations. He said he pays a $20 monthly fee to run it, makes no money from it and would certainly stop under the new rates. Hannibal recommends listeners go to savenetradio.org for details and to lend support.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

tferan@plaind.com, 216-999-6251

Thanks Tom!