Last but not least: Swiss local radio stations resort to self-help in the fee dispute
For the past year, the four industry giants—Universal, Warner, EMI, and Sony—have stopped making their products available to radio stations for free, offering them instead only through a paid download portal. Now, Swiss local radio stations are standing up to the music labels.
The local radio stations are setting up an Internet platform on which musicians, record labels and distributors can upload their music directly. In this way, they want to avoid the high fees charged by the industry giants. These charge fees of around CHF 4,000 per year, which is beyond the budget of non-commercial local radio stations.18 Swiss local radio stations are involved in the platform. The Swiss local radio stations in the Unikom association were no longer supplied by the four major labels after the association refused to use the expensive Music Promotion Network MPN. They received neither music nor information. Interviews with artists from the respective companies were also refused.
However, in order to continue to provide free access to the music - which they are actually promoting - Unikom radios are now expanding the existing, user-generated platform Openbroadcast.ch into an open and neutral hub, as detailed in a press release on Wednesday. Musicians, record labels and distributors can now supply 18 radio stations with their sound online free of charge. The deal is also interesting for them, especially as the major labels charge musicians 100 francs per song for uploading to their own platform MPN, according to Unikom. In addition, the 18 local stations have a combined audience of around half a million listeners.
However, in order to continue to provide free access to the music - which they are actually promoting - Unikom radios are now expanding the existing, user-generated platform Openbroadcast.ch into an open and neutral hub, as detailed in a press release on Wednesday. Musicians, record labels and distributors can now supply 18 radio stations with their sound online free of charge. The deal is also interesting for them, especially as the major labels charge musicians 100 francs per song for uploading to their own platform MPN, according to Unikom. In addition, the 18 local stations have a combined audience of around half a million listeners.
