FAU’s student run radio station, Owl Radio, will join in with the thousands of stations across the United States that will support the National Day Silence this Tuesday.
Internet run radio stations will be shutting off their microphones and sharing with their listeners a Day of Silence on June 26. The Day of Silence is in protest to the impending royalty rate increase, which will double the percent of money a station has to pay to play each individual song.
Jake Ward, a spokesperson for the SaveNetRadio Coalition believes the rate is unfair to stations and to listeners.
“The arbitrary and drastic rate increases set by the Copyright Royalty Board on March 2 threatened the very livelihood of thousands of web casters and their millions of listeners throughout the country,” Ward says.
The Day of Silence is suppose to represent the sound listeners will hear after July 15, when a giant chunk of the online stations will be forced to sign off for good since they can not afford such high rates.
Sophomore, Commercial Music major and Station Manager of Owl Radio, Mark Ortenzo, thinks the Day of Silence will help others understand the importance of the rate increase.
“Silence isn’t the best way to get the message across,” Ortenzo says. “We need to inform our listeners and get students to become involved.” Owl Radio will be playing College Broadcast Incorporated messages and having their DJ’s speaking about the issues and how to help fix the problem of the rate increase.
If this gets passed, Owl Radio will not close their doors; they will just have to make some major changes to how the station runs.
“If this [the pay per song increase] passes, it will put a big damper on our budget,” Ortenzo says. “If passed, it will cause the station to change some of its content. Owl Radio is an important asset to the school and actions will be taken to keep it going.”
Ward wants listeners of Internet radio to call their congressional representatives to ask for support of the Internet Radio Equality Act.
At FAU, students have the option to also send letters to the representatives, which Owl Radio will conveniently mail out to make it easier on students. Letters can be handed in at the station, located in the Student Union Building room 207.
“This should have a big impact on the issue,” Ortenzo says. “Especially if students get involved by writing and calling the representatives.”
To contact SaveNetRadio, contact Jake Ward at (202) 448-3156.
FAU”s Congressman contact information:
(202) 224-3041 Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (Republican – FL)
(202) 224-5274 Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (Democrat – FL)
(202) 225-3026 Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Representative Ron Klein (Democrat- FL)
