Is it possible to stream WITHOUT owing royalties?

[oldrover]

Obviously, if you have a news/talk format, then music royalties are moot. But my understanding was that music recorded pre-1972 was not subject to the streaming royalties. Am I wrong on that? Or off slightly?

Bueller? Bueller?

[Bill DeFelice]

Go ask the RIAA and/or ClownExchange .... oops, SoundExchange - I'll bet you they will sing a difference of opinion regarding pre-72 music.

And if you use bumper music don't think you're going to get off scott free by claiming "fair use rights" either. If you play a portion of a song they will be out there holding their hands out for dough-ray-me!

[Mid West Clubber]

Most small internet stations dont pay anything,,, why bother if you only have a handfull of listeners,,, Why not stick to playing independent labels and unsigned artists that arent members of the RIAA or Sound Exchange...... Even playing artists that are not on a U.S label can be a loophole.. This is easy to do if you program a Techno/Dance or Indie Rock format, since so much unsigned material is readily available. If you want to program some kind of CHR current hit station, or current Country, AC,, Etc you probably will have to go legit once you get enough listeners and attract some attention.......

If you are indeed doing a News Talk format, dont worry about it as long as its all your own original material, and not like a syndicated program.....  If you wanted to air something like Rush Limbaugh for instance, without permission it probably could get you into some legal trouble if anyone found out, and I doubt you could get granted permission to air such programs without major $$$$$$$$....

[radiowayne]

radiowayne notes that just because an artist is not a member of Sound Exchange does not mean that royalties are owed.  The law establishes SE to collect for all artists played on the internet whether they are a member of SE or not.  The only way to get around that
is to have the artist sign a royalty waiver in effect directly licensing his music to you.  If the artist is doing original material that he owns the publishing copyrights to, you can direct license that also.  If the artist does material published by others you either need to pay ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC or else try to direct license from the publisher.

But, then again, he could be wrong

Wayne G. aka radiowayne who is not an attorney, does not play one on tv, nor did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Prais]

I run 2 part 15 Catholic stations.

We play about 4 hours of music a day 24/7, some English some Spanish. We havew about a thousand song library.

Every one of these artists writes their own music and it's quite good. I have made individual agreements (royalty waivers) with each of the 40 artists (signed letters) that there will be no compensation. They easily agreed, and in fact got friends of theirs to do the same. The ideas was to omit the folks at ASCRAP, BMI, and SESAC.  As far as I know (I've researched alot) the year of the song does not matter.

[V.Riley]

In my opinion, it is not worth risking your car, your house the shirt off your back and any marriage may or may not have.  To put it bluntly, they most likely have more money to throw at more lawyers than you do, even though they are the ones crying that they don't get enough money from web casters.  Unless you want to be pirate radio and always running from the law and costantly checking behind your back, it's better to pay the licensing fee.

Of course, this doesn't mean you can't complain to your reps. in Washington.  By all means, make your voice heard about the insane royalty rates.  And almost always listen to what radiowayne says.  

[radioguybroadcasting]

Obviously, if you have a news/talk format, then music royalties are moot. But my understanding was that music recorded pre-1972 was not subject to the streaming royalties. Am I wrong on that? Or off slightly?

Bueller? Bueller?

I ran a news/talk station and paid music licensing fees.

[Mike Walker]

If I'm not mistaken (hey, it could happen), Part 15 stations are exempt from royalties, since it's assumed that on a signal that small (if it's legal!), you're simply beaming your own music to radios on your property.

[radioguybroadcasting]

If I'm not mistaken (hey, it could happen), Part 15 stations are exempt from royalties, since it's assumed that on a signal that small (if it's legal!), you're simply beaming your own music to radios on your property.

No, not true.. BMI has been trying to get Part 15 stations to cough up money and license them...

[LowPayDJ]

And how many have stupid written on their foreheads where they've just wrote the check because someone asked for the money?