SaveNetRadio

SaveNetRadio: Government and Public Relations:

When the Copyright Royalty Board, an obscure arm of Congress, dras- tically raised the royalty rates paid by Internet radio webcasters by a whopping 300%-1200%, the industry came to Qorvis to help them reverse the decision and save them before the bill came due. Qorvis mobilized supporters and within two weeks created SaveNetRadio, a broad-based coalition of more than 100,000 webcasters, listeners, artists and labels that catapulted the issue onto front pages across the country.

Using our powerful combination of coalition-building, public relations, grassroots lobbying and web communications, Qorvis kept the issue alive and kicking in the press and helped the coalition bring groups of Internet radio executives and independent artists to Capitol Hill to tell their stories. They testified in the House, held staff briefings, met with members of Congress and their staff and held concerts on the park grounds of the Senate, right in front of the U.S. Capitol.

The campaign generated more than 1 million calls and 400,000 letters to Congress in less than three months, and the overwhelming response forced Congress to introduce the “Internet Radio Equality Act” in both the House and the Senate. Congressional staffers have called SaveNetRa- dio the “grassroots campaign of the year” and it was a national finalist for PRWeek’s Crisis/Issues Management Campaign of the Year.