In a wonderfully bold statement, SIRIUS Satellite Radio CEO Mel Karmazin at the Morgan Stanley Global Automotive Conference this morning in New York (audio), threw down a challenge to the music industry. During the Q&A session, someone brought up the RIAA and the aleged rate hikes that they have been threatening.

Karmazin actually said he would be willing to pay significantly higher fees to the recording industry... but they would need to remove music from terrestrial radio stations and make it only available on satellite radio. 

"We have done great things for the music industry. We are absolutely are playing more new music than they have ever experienced in terrestrial radio. And we are also paying them, which is something that terrestrial radio is not," said Karmazin.

"If they really would like to get a big increase in what they are getting from us. What they should do for us, is take music off every place else in radio... so the only place you would be able to hear music is to listen to satellite radio, then I think we could pay them a signficant increase over what they're making."

Wow. 

[Morgan Stanley Global Automotive Conference Webcast (audio)]