Disqus - Latest Comments for Zach

Re: Pandora wins round one, but for the rest of us, nothing changes

Zach — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:00:24 -0000

For one thing, this whole alarmism thing may not have been entirely unfounded. The bill passed unanimously after the National Association of Broadcasters, which represented terrestrial radio, dropped their opposition to this bill. It could've been shot down otherwise. It still could be, as you said. And if this hadn't been passed, they would have probably gone out of business, being unable to negotiate lower rates.

As for being, uh, "georetarded," well, I'm not saying not having Pandora in Australia is fair. It sounds like it sucks. But why can't you guys write to your MPs or whatever your legislative equivalents are? Or to the music industry people?

Re: Send Bill O’Reilly Back to School

Zach — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:33:21 -0000

I was taught tolerance, respect, and temper. Bill was not.

Re: 2008/09/27/pandora-7084/

Zach — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:21:29 -0000

I really hope this passes. I know this isn't the kind of thing that most people will vote on - "You voted to kill Pandora! I like the pro-life guy better now!" - but it's an issue of fairness.

I'd call my rep, but I live in DC, so she can't do anything.

Re: 2008/09/27/pandora-7084/

Zach — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:19:34 -0000

@ M.Sputtering -
I hope that was sarcasm I was reading. If not, allow me to retort:

Explain to me how it's fair that Pandora pays 70% of its revenue in royalties to SoundExchange, while satellite radio pays ~9.5% and terrestrial radio pays nothing. Oh, and may I point out that some other outfits pay more? More as in 300-1200% of their revenue? Boosting the royalty payment from .0008 cents a song from .0017 cents a song - and that's retroactive to '06, I believe the year was - is going to hurt a site like Pandora which plays a lot of songs every day. So paltry isn't the word I'd use.

The fact is, internet radio is a new industry. It hasn't had a chance to get as established as terrestrial, and Pandora tried going all-subscription once (like satellite), which failed. Pandora isn't the only site that stands to be hurt by this, but it's probably the biggest. So the fact that we're hearing from them, well, it doesn't mean there aren't others behind them. (I guess I forgot to mention that the RIAA and SoundExchange support the bill. Yes, the same SoundExchange that was asking for more royalties. So they're not the only ones asking for this bill.)

Your argument reminds me a lot of an argument the head of SoundExchange made. Pandora is great, he said, but they need more ads. That's blaming the victim. The fact is, it's not their fault.

Re: Send Bill O’Reilly Back to School

Zach — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 11:33:21 -0000

I was taught tolerance, respect, and temper. Bill was not.

Re: Will Pandora Play 'The End' Soon? Royalty Rate Hikes Could Be Its Demise

Zach — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:21:04 -0000

I hope you're right that this is all a ploy. That I can deal with. But somehow, I think we're going to lose one of the best music sites out there very soon. And then, it won't be about listeners incurring the music industry's wrath, but the other way around.