"Future of Music Coalition" on Preserving the Dynamism of the Internet

— -- On June 28, by an 11-11 vote, the Senate Commerce Committee failed to approve an amendment that would have ensured that strong network neutrality provisions were part of the Telecommunications Reform Act that may now go to the Senate floor. This is a stinging defeat for media and technology policy activists who understand what is at stake: telephone and cable industries want to change the fundamental organizing principles 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.