Every day was Christmas for Michael Clark, but now the holiday’s over.
From the attic of his condo in Woodbridge, Va., the 38-year-old Web developer ran an Internet radio station that spun his beloved Christmas carols all year long. Then in March, a panel of federal judges sharply increased the royalty charges for playing music online.
Since then, it’s been one long, silent night for Clark and his hundreds of listeners at christmasmusic247.com. His site and hundreds of other free Internet radio stations already have shut down. (Jim Puzzanghera, latimes.com)
This Sunday night an entrepreneurial seedbed that was part of the digital revolution will go silent. A federal court decided in March that web-based radio stations would now have to pay a higher royalty (a 100% increase) — and for those still broadcasting after Sunday July 15th there would be a retroactive payment due covering the time back through 2006. There was a late appeal to the decision, but it failed this past Wednesday. The US House held hearings — what they always do when they know they can really do nothing about something — and as expected, did nothing.
So the countdown continues.
During time of change, those in the status quo fight change, while entrepreneurs embrace it. In the music business we have seen them suing 15-year-old girls over downloading music, and now we see them going after obscure webcasters.
Rather that embracing change and finding ways to turn it to their advantage, the status quo fights change at every turn. Eventually change always wins, but in the short run the preservers of the status quo fight on in quixotic fashion.
The entertainment industry is in a period of what my friend Peter Vaill calls permanent white water. If you fight the currents, eventually you will drown. The only way to make it to the bottom of the river is to follow where it takes you and try to avoid the obstacles and challenges that inevitably will pop up along the way.
