MARCONI DREAMS

Internet radio stations are currently something of a Web cause celebre; should musical artists collect more money from the Websites that play their music for profit? To rehash an older tussle, should any kid with an MP3 player and a computer get free copies of anybody’s creation, just because? Should commercial on-air radio stations get to keep their entitlement to free music performances, just because they’re promoting the artists by playing their stuff? I don’t think so. I don’t have to be a fan of the recorded music business–who’ve coolly ripped both artists and listeners off for most of a century–to be in favor of artists getting paid for the use of their creations.I don’t think most Internet radio people add enough value to their playing of recorded performances to earn much of a break. In an era when almost anybody with a computer can become a public DJ, you can’t make that old “public service” scam stick anymore. If some of the Web radio stations have to shut down, well, sorry, that’s the law of the marketplace.

So few musicians–like other artists–can really make a decent living from their art the way things are, why not increase their paychecks? The Web jockeys and entrepreneurs can go find some other content to appropriate for profit.

And here’s an interesting item from today’s New York Times. A University of Texas professor has actually found a link between radio listening and lower music purchases. Which suggests the original symbiosis between radio and the record business has gone away. I believe this, and I’ll tell you why in a future post. Don’t get excited — the reason is pretty obvious. Radio stations don’t play new music.