Music bloggers rail against moves to introduce licence

MUSIC bloggers have met the country’s music rights watchdog to discuss controversial new plans to impose a licence on websites which share music sent to them by bands.

Members of the online music community have railed against the move by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) to introduce a paid-for licence for anyone who is offering songs for download or streaming. It follows an agreement struck my IMRO with YouTube, but has been met with opposition from award-winning music blogs such as nialler9 and the torture garden.

According to the nialler9.com site, which is operated by Niall Byrne, a four-time winner of the Irish Blog award for best music blog, the licence has the potential to shut down the music sites and could have serious ramifications for the online music community.

Niall Byrne and those behind the other sites affected, The Torture Garden and Asleep on the Compost Heap, met with IMRO on Thursday to discuss the situation.

The Limited Online Exploitation Licence sought by IMRO has three tiers based on gross revenue and differentiates between operations where gross revenue is expected to be more than €7,000 per year, and those below that threshold.

The minimum licence is €75 for 30 second streams, €150 for full streaming and another €150 for downloadable music.

On his site, Niall Byrne wrote: “A few days ago I was contacted by an IMRO representative who asked me to pay for the IMRO/MCPSI Limited Online Exploitation Licence as this site ‘is making copyrighted music available online’.

“My biggest gripe with this licence is that it’s a blanket fee that doesn’t take into account the size of a blog or site really. Sure, it has three price bands, but lumping a music blogger who blogs from home in his spare time in with a professional company is wrong. It will have a reductive and destructive effect on the promotion of music online as many bloggers won’t be able to afford these fees and, as a result, bands will have less of an outlet to promote their music.

“Most people who operate music blogs (this does not include full-album blogs who somehow remain untouched) are decent people who would want to stay on the legit side of the law, but these costs are prohibitory to the idea that anyone can post MP3s from bands (with permission) for promotional purposes.”

It is understood IMRO has said there is no room for negotiation on the licence and that other sites may now be approached.

A representative of IMRO was unavailable for comment on Friday when contacted.

nhttp://www.imro.ie/content/limited-online-exploitation-licence