Hearing of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R-KS): Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding the hearing. I just note a couple of things that -- some of which has been noted already, but I want to also take off on another area. In the over-the-air radio market while ownership of stations has consolidated, consumers have access to more diverse programming than ever before. In addition, many consumers also have access to radio streamed over the Internet via webcasters and new satellite radio services. I think those would need to be looked at all together.

Terrestrial radio is, of course, perfectly harmonious with consumers' interests where price is concerned because it's free. Webcasting, in its infancy, has also provided many consumers with free access to music and I'm going to be paying close attention to see how webcasting royalties impact this nascent market for opportunities and for consumers. As with all new technologies and services, the price of satellite radio will continue to drop, making it ever more affordable for consumers.

Now, the point of the hearing, regulatory legislation that seeks to create competitive advantages in certain areas, instead of permitting market forces to function naturally in combination with anti-trust laws, which I think are a very important aspect of this, uniquely situated -- are uniquely situated to address radio consolidation concerns on a fact-intensive, market by market basis. This is not the kind of competition policy this committee should support where we would go in and deregulate. We have spent the last 7 years dealing with just such an artificial policy and other segments of the telcom space and I'll not support exporting such a policy to other segments of the economy where we seek to regulate that economy.

Recently the recording companies created a coalition with others in an effort to advance webcasting royalty legislation, that ultimately could have driven many small webcasters out of business. It's my understand that some people that are testifying here today supported this bill as a way of forcing an increase in the royalties charged by BMI and ASCAP. Webcasting, whether provided through wireline Internet connections, or especially wireless Internet connections when such capability develops, is exactly the kind of distribution outlet that could be invaluable for publicizing new and unknown artists, increasing artists' direct access to the public without middlemen and further increasing competition in the radio industry generally. So if that's the area that we're interested in, if that's the particular problem, I think the answer is one that we should look at more in the area of webcasting.

Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for holding this hearing. I think it's an important subject and I look forward to the testimony. Now I'm going to have to slip out myself. I hope I'll be able to get back for some of it.