Christmas Music 24/7 signed an agreement with Sound Exchange on February 13, 2009 allowing Christmas Music 24/7 to play any artist over our Internet streams. I have to pay a $2,000 annual fee, plus report monthly to Sound Exchange a detailed list of the music I’ve played, and provide monthly income and expense reports. I’m prohibited from growing too large, measured by either how many listeners I have or by income. This new agreement also covers me from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015. The agreement was published in the Federal Register on March 3, 2009. Surprisingly, the list of webcasters that signed the agreement was also published in the Federal Register.
So, what does this mean?
- I don’t have to worry about paying tens of thousands of dollars to Sound Exchange.
- I can play any artists I want to. In the 2008 Christmas season, I refused to play artists that (1) weren’t allowing Sound Exchange to represent them; and (2) didn’t grant me a direct license. So there were several artists I could have played but didn’t because I may have had to pay lots of money for the right to advertise their music.
- I can now build an accurate budget for 2009, since my royalty figures are fixed, and not based on future listener counts.
- I can now focus on improving the Christmas Music 24/7 web site, and not the ridiculous laws passed by Congress that got us into this mess in the first place.
What’s next? I have lots of paperwork to catch up on for Sound Exchange. And for the artists that let me play their music, I hope to be able to send them a report showing how many plays their music received.
So, I thank everyone for their support the past two years. The independent artists that provided me with a direct license made running the stations a much more enjoyable time. The labels that send me music also help, as there is no way I cold afford to buy all the music I play. And a huge thank you goes out to my listeners. I very much enjoyed being Live365’s #1 and #2 most popular stations in December.
So here’s to 2009. Send me your ideas or suggestions on which music should be played. I have already started preparing new music for some new stations.
