Music Grudge Match: John v. Jon
John Simson, who runs digital royalty collector SoundExchange, sent a nasty little letter on Wednesday afternoon to Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, further fueling a feud between the parties over Internet radio royalties.
Potter put out a press release earlier in the day accusing SoundExchange of "backtracking" on an agreement the two groups had reached (see Technology Daily's PM Edition for details). Simson felt compelled to respond, slamming DiMA for a "pattern of misinformation, mischaracterization and political maneuvering."
Simson said Potter is "intentionally mischaracterizing" SoundExchange's proposal to cap administrative fees for webcasters in exchange for a commitment to work on finding solutions to unauthorized "stream-ripping" and better reporting of what music is played by his member companies.
"It appears that DiMA is really the one 'backtracking' from its commitments" made during closed-door negotiations that took place on Capitol Hill a week ago, Simson said. "Your pattern of failing to deliver is becoming a major obstacle to having productive discussions," he added.
"Rather than do as you’ve promised, you keep running to the press and to the Hill instead of sitting down and negotiating," Simson told Potter. He continued: "If you spent half as much time attempting to construct a business solution to your problems as you do constructing 'spin' for the press and engaging in political maneuvering, then perhaps we would be further along on our negotiations."
Stay tuned as this wonky soap opera continues…
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus