We have assembled this article in order to address the most frequently asked questions concerning the permission letter we ask you to look at and send back that lets us play your music on our radio shows. If you have any questions or concerns about it, please e-mail the Cygnus Radio management at our contact page.

Why do I have to agree with this? Can't I just say "Yeah, it's great, play my sturf?"
What does "non-exclusive permission" mean?
If I say not to play my music anymore, you'll really stop?
Why do I need to state that I am "legally entitled" to make this agreement?
Does this e-mail actually mean anything legally? Doesn't something have to be signed to be official?
Are you going to let people download my music? I don't want people to be able to do that.
But what about that podcasting bit? Isn't that downloading?

WHY DO I HAVE TO AGREE WITH THIS? CAN'T I JUST SAY "YEAH, IT'S GREAT, PLAY MY STURF"?

Blame the U.S. Congress, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for treating everyone on-line like thieves. They say that if we play your music on our net radio station, we're stealing from you.

The RIAA says unless we pay about $500 a year to them for a special license (and that's for no listeners -- it goes up fast from there), we have to ask the permission of every artist we want to play on the show -- even if you are an unsigned artist, and even if you're signed to an indie record label that is not a member of the RIAA. Sucks, don't it?

WHAT DOES "NON-EXCLUSIVE PERMISSION" MEAN?

It means you're giving us permission, but you can also still give permission to anyone else in the world.We have no exclusive claim on playing your music.

IF I SAY NOT TO PLAY MY MUSIC ANYMORE, YOU'LL REALLY STOP?

Yes, we'll really stop. No strings attached. It's your music, not ours.

WHY DO I NEED TO STATE THAT I AM "LEGALLY ENTITLED" TO MAKE THIS AGREEMENT?

Essentially, that part means that you can't give us a cover of someone else's song. Because in order for you to really give permission, you have to own both the sound recording (the MP3 file) and the song itself -- those are separate things. If you give us permission, but your web site has cover songs on it, we will not play those unless you show us that you have properly licensed the song. No, we won't report you to anyone if you didn't. But if we played it, we could get in trouble.

DOES THIS E-MAIL ACTUALLY MEAN ANYTHING LEGALLY? DOESN'T SOMETHING HAVE TO BE SIGNED TO BE OFFICIAL?

Not necessarily. The purpose of the permission is to show folks like the RIAA that we're complying with their regulations. It really shouldn't directly affect you as an artist at all. Sure, an e-mail can be forged, but if 300 artists all give us e-mails saying they grant permission, that can safely be demonstrated that we're doing the right things to comply with the laws. In addition, the E-Sign Act of 2000 gives legal authority to electronic signatures in America, and when you forward back the text of the agreement, it basically means you're signing it. But, as we said before, you can withdraw it at any time.

ARE YOU GOING TO LET PEOPLE DOWNLOAD MY MUSIC? I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.

That's okay. We do not provide any MP3 files of individual songs for download, and we do not provide any downloadable files in CD quality. Some of our programs are distributed as podcasts, however.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THAT PODCASTING BIT? ISN'T THAT DOWNLOADING?

Similar but different. Your music is available ONLY within the context of an entire radio show, as it was originally broadcast live. We suppose someone could save up a bunch of show podcasts and slice your songs out of it, but that's a lot of effort for the P2P generation. Let's face it, if unethical listeners want to steal your music, they'll just download it from somewhere else, probably in higher quality. Personally, we think the exposure gained from podcasts far outweigh any potential loss. Still, I know that the prospect of any kind of download may bother some folks.

Perhaps in the future there will be a freely available and widely supported audio format that permits us to apply Digital Rights Management to podcasts, which would at the very least limit how long a downloadable file would be playable. But for now, the utility and popularity of podcasting is simply too great to ignore. We hope that you will agree. If you don't, we understand, and we respect your right to not be included against your wishes. But at the moment the only way to opt out of that is to decline or rescind permission for airplay, since we do not want to get into the situation of editing out songs after the fact.

The bottom line is that this permission is to protect you from us, and to protect us from the RIAA and ASCAP/BMI/SESAC etc. It's all so more people can enjoy your music!

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