“Future of Music Coalition” on Preserving the Dynamism of the Internet

July 1, 2006 by  

Yesterday I posted that the rejection of net neutrality made me
fearful that a rush to a decision and the pols’ ignorance of the issues
could result in the internet going the way of radio. I once lived with
radio…24/7 when I could. I have not listened in 10 years and I really
miss it. This well-written opinion validates my fears. Here’s an
excerpt. Its a long but worthwhile read.

Opinion by Michael Bracy and Jenny Toomey of the Future of Music
Coalition, an organization pressing Congress to halt the efforts to
redefine the fundamental structures of the Internet.

The vote makes the Future of Music Coalition think of the
old adage, those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.
The Future of Music Coalition (FMC) was created in 2000 because
traditional structures for producing, promoting, and selling music
basically did not serve musicians and fans. Unfair record contracts,
rampant consolidation of record labels and radio stations, and the
questionable business practice of payola led to a dysfunctional
structure where signed artists were subject to lopsided deals and
unsigned artists were locked out of the major distribution and
promotion channels. Because of this artificial scarcity and control,
the vast majority of working musicians labored in poverty, while fans
were presented with narrowly tailored radio playlists and a handful of
videos on high rotation. These videos and playlists were crafted by
major record labels in collusion with consolidated commercial radio and
cable music television channels.

By the time FMC started, the traditional vehicle providing access
to the music market, local radio, had imploded. 1n 1996, Congress tried
to meet the needs of radio broadcasters in much the same way that they
are trying to accommodate the telecommunications industry today. The
result was a historic transformation of the industry where massive
consolidation gutted the traditional regulatory principles of localism,
competition and diversity. The effort to appease broadcasters, who
complained of harmful competitive forces and the urgent need to take
advantage of "economies of scale," backfired. While a handful of radio
station conglomerates profited, the era of radio deregulation has
resulted in fewer owners, fewer listeners, cookie-cutter playlists, and
a widespread payola scandal.

Commercial radio has been allowed to self-destruct, thanks to a lack
of reasonable regulation and an obsession with seeing a return on
investment. This is exactly the same future we see if Congress allows
cable and telephone companies to manage a tiered Internet.

At the heart of the recent debate is the basic question of "network
neutrality." While this may be a new and unfamiliar phrase to many, it
codifies a core concept that has existed since the creation of the
Internet. For years, FMC has argued that technological innovation will
trump spectrum scarcity, as long as government doesn’t move in to
shelter old business models with industry specific regulations. Without
clear network neutrality provisions, the Internet as we know it runs
the risk of being transformed into a proprietary high speed data
network controlled by a few phone companies, cable companies and
wireless providers. Essentially, what happened to radio could happen to
the Internet.

The telecommunications industry and their shameless fake consumer
groups are telling Congress and consumers that this is a debate between
AT&T/Verizon/Comcast and Google/Microsoft/Yahoo. This
mischaracterization is as insulting as it is misleading. This is a
debate about the future of our democracy and our culture.

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