Hip Hop Congress

6th Annual Hip Hop Congress Conference A Success!!

After the last rhyme was spoken, the final DJ scratch heard, and the final dancer left the floor one can only reflect on the success of 6th Annual Hip Hop Congress Conference. Over the course of four days with a host of workshops, motivational speeches and artist performances, Hip Hop Congress sought to keep the themes of individual empowerment, unity and education reverberating in the minds of Hip Hop community members.

Martha Diaz, keynote speaker and president/founder of the Hip Hop Association, kept education at the forefront of her speech Thursday evening by reminding all members of the Hip Hop Congress and all attendees how important education is to a community. “A meeting of the minds must happen for our communities and country to thrive,” said Diaz.

Also in collaboration with Live Earth and a Hip Hop Congress conference attendees wore earth tones colors, encouraged local businesses, students, and residents to tune into the 24 hour concert, posted, and later recycled, Live Earth Posters throughout the city and read the Live Earth pledge during workshops and performances.

At the Grand Finale HHC show at Casa Nueva Saturday Night, Northern California Regional Director and Event Host, DLabrie performed a song about the Katrina Disaster and repeatedly reminded the crowd of 500 to check out LiveEarth.org and to use the resources on the website to help end Global Warming. Other Performers included BluePrint, One Be Lo, Invincible, The Jacka, Kamikaze, Quanstar, Kosher Dillz, and Twilight Sentinels.

As a closing thought Shamako Noble exclaimed, “This year’s conference allowed us to take a lot of strides, but also exposed a lot of areas where we can improve. I am happy to say, nonetheless, that the OU chapters and all of the folks that helped put this together work tirelessly and helped produce a remarkable event.”

Lastly there were major partnerships created and solidified between Hip Hop Congress and Unite Here, PPERC, Seattle Urban Debate Foundation, and Ohio University.

Hip Hop Congress will soon be releasing information about the time and date of next year conference, as well as further information concerning events for all 45 national chapters.

For more information please email Berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com

Will Web radio stations be forced to combat copying?

2007.07.16 • 07:15 PDT from machinist.salon.com
Will Web radio stations be forced to combat copying?

Late last week SoundExchange, the recording-industry group that collects royalties from Internet radio stations, agreed to limit one key part of the new fees that threatened to shut down a great many webcasters. But now it seems that SoundExchange’s benevolence came at a price: in exchange for reducing fees, the recording industry wants webcasters to prevent listeners from copying the music they get through Internet radio — despite the fact that such copying may be perfectly legal.

SoundExchange had previously asked radio stations for $500 for each channel of music that they send out to listeners, a fee that would have added up to more than a billion dollars for the industry. On Friday, the royalty group agreed to cap the amount at $50,000 per webcaster. The fee cap all but saved Internet radio from certain death.

As Ars Technica points out, though, SoundExchange says in a press release that it will only extend the deal to webcasters who “work to stop users from engaging in ‘stream ripping’ — turning Internet radio performances into a digital music library.” (Here’s the PDF of the press release.)

Stream ripping refers to the practice of recording songs from an Internet feed. Several programs — StationRipper, RadioLover, Streamripper, among others — make this a pretty easy process. Once your record a song from an Internet radio channel, you can play it like any other MP3, in any order you choose, without logging back in to the webcaster’s stream. Considering how easy that sounds, some industry observers have speculated that people who were scared off by file sharing may be moving to stream ripping as an alternative source of free music online.

But there isn’t much firm data about the practice. The recording industry has trouble estimating how many music files are traded illegally online, but recording a Web radio stream, like recording a show on TiVo, occurs off the network, in the privacy of your own computer. And even if stream ripping is widespread, it’s not clear what radio stations can do to stop it. Stream rippers work by capturing the music going straight to your PC’s speakers, in much the same way that your TiVo or your VCR copies video as it flies between your cable box and your TV. Copy-protection programs simply can’t stop this sort of copying.

And though legal opinion is unsettled on the question, many copyright experts argue that stream ripping, like recording TV shows on your VCR, is legal. All you’re doing is “time shifting” — recording something at Time A to play back (for yourself) at Time B.

Like the music industry, Web radio stations aren’t big fans of stream ripping. They’d rather have you come back to their site each time you want to listen to music. But many also stay away from the main methods to combat ripping — webcasting at a lower bitrate, mixing promos and jingles over the music, crossfading songs so they don’t start and end cleanly.

You have to wonder if the recording the industry — now that it’s got webcasters locked in negotiations for their future — will have any trouble imposing such reduced-quality streams.

www.rockrap.com

Is the RIAA Pulling a Scam on the Music Industry?

by DJ ProFusion
Tue Apr 24, 2007 at 11:27:29 AM PDT

The Internet radio game is rigged and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has rigged it in their favor.

* DJ ProFusion’s diary :: ::
*

There has been an understandable public outcry against the RIAA’s attempts to more than triple the sound recording copyright royalties on Internet radio. (See Save Internet Radio from Corporate Money Grab) One solution proposed by Webcasters is to just not play RIAA-member songs under the assumption that then they don’t have to pay the royalty to the RIAA’s collection body, SoundExchange; Webcasters would then just pay the independent artist the royalty.

This sounds fair and just because it is. However, the RIAA is not about being fair and just. The game is rigged and the RIAA has rigged it in their favor. The strategy of playing only non-RIAA songs won’t work though because the RIAA has secured the right to collect royalties on all songs regardless of who controls the copyright. RIAA operates under the assumption that they will collect the royalties for the “sound recording copyright” and that the artists who own their own copyright will go to SoundExchange to collect at a later date.

Look at the information on SoundExchange.com (RIAA created SoundExchange) and see how it works. The RIAA has secured legal authority to administer a compulsory license that covers all recorded music.

“The recent U.S. Copyright Office ruling regarding webcasting designated SoundExchange to collect and distribute to all nonmembers as well as its members. The Librarian of Congress issued his decision with rates and terms to g(http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#b4overn the compulsory license for webcasters (Internet-only radio) and simulcastors (retransmissions).” (http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#b4)

“SRCOs (sound recording copyright owners) are subject to a compulsory license for the use of their music…SoundExchange was established to administer the collection and distribution of royalties from such compulsory licenses taken by noninteractive streaming services that use satellite, cable or Internet methods of distribution.”
(http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#a4)

SoundExchange (the RIAA) considers any digital performance of a song as falling under their compulsory license. If any artist records a song, SoundExchange has the right to collect royalties for its performance on Internet radio. Artists can offer to download their music for free, but they cannot offer their songs to Internet radio for free. (http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#a7)

So how it works is that SoundExchange collects money through compulsory royalties from Webcasters and holds onto the money. If a label or artist wants their share of the money, they must become a member of SoundExchange and pay a fee to collect their royalties (http://soundexchange.com/faq.html#b6). But, and this is a big “but,” you only get royalties if you own the sound recording copyright. If you are signed to a major label, chances are you don’t. Even if you do own the copyright to your own recording of your own song, SoundExchange will collect Internet radio royalties for your song even if you don’t want them to do so.

Go to the SoundExchange site: http://plays.soundexchange.com/… and take a look at the hundreds of indie labels for whom SoundExchange claims they have collected royalties. Enter some of those label names on http://www.riaaradar.com/… and notice how few are actually members of the RIAA. Contact the label and ask if they are a member of RIAA and they almost certainly aren’t and may not even be aware that SoundExchange is collecting royalty fees on their music.

And what exactly is SoundExchange doing with the money they have collected for those hundreds of labels that must have thousands of songs???

Contact your Congressional Representatives

Tags: music, internet radio, copyright, media, corporat

–
E.Mandisa Subira
President: Kiamsha’s Network 206-736-3088
Producer Hip Hop Walkin the talk @ Afragenesis Network 206-774-0050 ext 705
877-547-7424 ext 705

Connecting African America

through community, commerce,

and culture!

Seattle Ladies First – First Saturday of Each Month

LADIES FIRST needs more SUPPORT!!!
This event has changed and grown over time and it is amazing the love and support women get on the mic.

The HipHop Community can keep this alive… Let’s keep this going….
SHOUT OUT to our number one supporters!!!! You know who you are!!!!
Love you!!!!
Lulu

————————————————————————————————–
LADIES FIRST
The First Saturday of Each Month
DJ DJ LUYING
Next Ladies First is August 4, 2007
SAVE THE DATE!!!!

We’re all about giving ladies the spot light!
We want to see Femcees, DJs, Breakers, and Artists all get down and be supported.

How can you, your community, or your crew SUPPORT?

* Attend each month and donate to the artists
* BE a Ladies First Street Team!!!
* Be part of the promotion and distribution of materials at parties, shows, emails, myspace, friendster, livejournal, and listserves.
* Tell your friends and homies
* Schedule around this monthly event or just pop your head in
* Give us advice and tell us how we can make this creative and live

It all goes down @ HIDMO (You know:))
2000 South Jackson St. (20th & Jackson)
$5.00 at the door/Open Mic/ALL AGES
(all proceeds go directly to artists
and left over proceeds are donated to CARA)

We are sponsored & organized by:
Communities Against Rape & Abuse (CARA)
& the Ladies First Committee

For more INFORMATION or
if you are interested in PERFORMING
CONTACT:
360-281-6522
or

http://www.myspace.com/seattleladiesfirst

or
gigi.frazier@gmail.com
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Peace and much love,
Luzviminda Uzuri “Lulu”Carpenter