Pandora hires Qorvis consultant (as in Lobbying firm for Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) for “Grassroots” campaign.

Pandora has apparently hired Nancy Tarr , a self-described consultant for Qorvis Communications, to manage their grassroots artists outreach campaign.  (See her Linkedin profile here http://www.linkedin.com/in/tarrwager.)

If you are not aware, both Source Watch  and Wikipedia identify Qorvis Communications as a big Washington DC PR and Lobbying firm that has  such respectable clients such as The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  (BTW how  do you ” PR manage” an adultery stoning?)  

We’re not sure if she’s behind the “sock puppet” comments we are getting in reply to the Pandora post but we are clearly getting an organized astroturf response.   Many of the comments we are getting contain the exact same language. D’oh!

Now just in case this is a Qorvis orchestrated campaign let us give you some basic advice on how to organize a corporate funded fake grassroots campaign:

Don’t have your folks cut and paste the exact same language into comments. Have them put the talking points in their own words.

By the way we are headed towards 1 million page views on this one post today alone.

by Dr. David C Lowery

My Song Got Played On Pandora 1 Million Times and All I Got Was $16.89, Less Than What I Make From a Single T-Shirt Sale!

Pandora less than t-shirt sale

As a songwriter Pandora paid me $16.89* for 1,159,000 play of “Low” last quarter.  Less than I make from a single T-shirt sale.  Okay that’s a slight  exaggeration.  That’s only the premium multi-color long sleeve shirts and that’s only at venues that don’t take commission.  But still.

Soon you will be hearing from Pandora how they need Congress to change the way royalties are calculated so that they can pay much much less to songwriters and performers. For you civilians webcasting rates are “compulsory” rates. They are set by the government (crazy, right?). Further since they are compulsory royalties, artists can not “opt out” of a service like Pandora even if they think Pandora doesn’t pay them enough. The majority of songwriters have their rates set by the government, too, in the form of the ASCAP and BMI rate courts–a single judge gets to decide the fate of songwriters (technically not a “compulsory” but may as well be).  This is already a government mandated subsidy from songwriters and artists to Silicon Valley.  Pandora wants to make it even worse.  (Yet another reason the government needs to get out of the business of setting webcasting rates and let the market sort it out.)

Here’s an idea. Why doesn’t Pandora get off the couch and get an actual business model instead of asking for a handout from congress and artists? For instance: Right now Pandora plays one minute of commercials an hour on their free service. Here’s an idea!  Play two minutes of commercials and double your revenue! (Sirius XM often plays 13 minutes and charges a subscription).

I urge all songwriters to post their royalty statements and show the world  just how terrible webcasting rates are for songwriters.

The revolution will not be webcast.

* I only own 40% of the song, the rest of the band owns the other 60% so actually amount paid to songwriters multiply by 2.5 or $42.25)

**  I am also paid a seperate royalty for being the performer of the song.   It’s higher but also what I would regard as unsustainable.   I’ll post that later this week.

For frame of reference  compare Sirius XM paid me $181.00

sirius royalties

Terrestrial (FM/AM) radio US paid me $1,522.00

Terrestrial Radio royalties Low

by Dr. David C Lowery

Rick Carnes, Eddie Schwartz and Fair Trade Music Project Speaks Out for Silenced Songwriters–Please sign the petition!

Music Technology Policy

The Music Creators North America (spearheading the Fair Trade Music Project) took another step toward defending the rights of creators.

In comments this week Eddie Schwartz of the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) and Rick Carnes of the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) discussed the alarming trend of the recent imprisonment of songwriters throughout the world.

“Freedom of expression is the life blood of all creators. There is a disturbing trend in many parts of the world to snuff out political opposition by denying songwriters the ability
to express themselves through their songs. This is why the Fair Trade Music Project adopted protection of free speech as one of its five principles. Without basic freedom of
expression it’s not just music that suffers… people suffer as well,” said Carnes.

The group’s fifth guiding principle reads, “Music creators must be free to speak, write and communicate without fear of censorship, retaliation…

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by thetrichordist

Ethical Fan Reports : EFF Agenda Theories

A fascinating look at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Rather than fighting for the rights of people who work to create content, EFF appears to fight for the rights of organized for-profit enterprises who appear to us to be breaking the law and appear to be profiting from illegally distributing digital goods with no intention of ever paying the owners or creators.

READ THE FULL POST AT ETHICAL FAN . COM:
http://ethicalfan.com/2012/04/eff-agenda/

RELATED:
EFF’s John Perry Barlow is Wrong, says Google’s Chief Economist

by Trichordist Editor

Facebook Communities For Artists Rights

The Trichordist links through to FarePlay on Facebook  from the blog and there are also these other communities. Please support all of these pages and let us know if there are more.

CONNECT!

FARE PLAY
https://www.facebook.com/FarePlay

COPY LIKE
https://www.facebook.com/copylike

RE-VALUE MUSIC
https://www.facebook.com/ReValueMusic

FIGHT FOR MUSIC
https://www.facebook.com/freefallfaithfirestor

MUSIC FIRST
https://www.facebook.com/musicFIRSTcoalition

by Trichordist Editor

Musician / Songwriter Blake Morgan Talks to NPR about Pandora’s Latest Attempt Reduce Royalties to Musicians

In a recent interview with NPR musician/songwriter Black Morgan expressed his thoughts and concerns about Pandora’s constant attempts to reduce royalty payments.

“I have a new record coming out — most people have new records coming out,” he says. “These are things that we’ve worked on for months, if not years, and we’re not looking to be paid unfairly. We’re simply looking for a fair working wage for the music that we make.”

Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren sent out emails to musicians trying to get them behind Pandora’s attempts to even the rates between terrestrial and Internet radio. Morgan wrote back to Westegren furious: “He cashes in a million dollars of stock every month on the first of the month and he’s done so over the same 14-month period that recording artists like me earned $15.75.”

Read the entire story here at NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/06/15/191703769/songwriters-group-calls-pandoras-radio-station-buy-a-stunt

by trichordist

Megadeth Drummer Says Piracy Has Hurt Sales of New Album

There are more and more artists everyday realizing what we’ve know for well over a decade, that artists and creators are the victims of technocratic imperialism and labor exploitation. The latest is Shawn Drover of Megadeth.

Metal-Rules.com: “Super Collider” debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 albums in the USA and #4 on Canadian Billboard charts. That’s the highest ranking since “Youthansia” back in 1994, so congrats! According to sales figures, “Super Collider” sold below “TH1RT3EN” for week one… Do you attribute that to changing times, illegal downloading, etc?

Shawn Drover: Of course it is. We are certainly thrilled to have a #6 record on Billboard in America and #4 in Canada, but sales are way down for the entire music industry right across the board, which is a real drag. Internet piracy, torrent sites and all that are the reason why. Concert attendance for us is still great around the world, so we are definitely happy about that.

Read The Full Story Here at Blabbermouth.Net:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=191371

by trichordist

Pandora is Stiffing Artists by Josh Kear | The Hill

Josh Kear is a songwriter, ASCAP member and Grammy Award-winning songwriter for such artists as Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, and Darius Rucker to name of few. He’s written an excellent post at The Hill about Pandora’s latest attempt to cheat songwriters and musicians of their rightful royalties.

Pandora is another example that The New Boss, Is Worse Than The Old Boss for musicians, songwriters and creators and elitist technocrats seek to enrich themselves on the labor of others. Kear writes,

Savvy readers will note a mere four percent of Pandora’s total revenue is spent on licensing public performance rights from songwriters and composers. That means we make a fraction of a cent every time one of our songs streams on Pandora’s service

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT THE HILL:
by Trichordist Editor

But Mommy, I’m Special! The Internet Society Wants to Punch Your Nose and Commoditize You Without Your Permission

The solution to issues facing artists and creators on the internet can be summed up in two words, consent and compensation. Those opposed to these two very simple things are those who are profiting by exploiting the artists and creators who seek it. Read on.

Music Technology Policy

“It’s really important that we protect the rights of really good looking people in this society,”

Attorney Andrew Bridges of Fenwick & West (frequently representing Google) quoted at Beautiful Person Derek Khanna’s SXSW Panel

_________________________________

This rather stunning bit of Googley sarcasm from the frequently-Googley litigator Mr. Bridges sums up the geek view of the world.  The Rich and Smart should win over The Beautiful and Famous.  (That he said it on a panel with one deemed to be of the 50 Most Beautiful Men on Capitol Hill and who is seemingly doing everything in his power to be famous–Mr. Khanna–does have a certain irony.)

But whatever the sarcasm and whatever the irony, Mr. Bridges apparently places himself in the conga line of those who believe that the Internet is “special”.  And nowhere is this “we’re special, screw off” more apparent than in the wandering Internet Society Issues…

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by Trichordist Editor