There was understandable focus on US politicians’ efforts to pass legislation to draw back the approaching ‘fiscal cliff’ as 2013 got underway. With that accomplished, though, attention within the music industry has turned to the proposed Internet Radio Fairness Act, which failed to pass before the end of the 112th Congress in the US. Opponents of the controversial bill, which would lower royalty commitments for services like Pandora, claim the legislation is now dead: “Congress listened to you – and we won,” Recording Academy boss Neil Portnow wrote in a letter to members. “The 112th Congress just concluded and IRFA is officially defeated.” Billboard makes the logical response to this: the first version of the Act may be un-passed, but there’s nothing to stop it being reintroduced in the 113th Congress – something its supporters were likely expecting. This row isn’t over by a long chalk.
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Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…