Because of some under the radar internet radio stations I was lucky enough to discover mnss and other great bands that I would have never been able to hear otherwise. So, I thought you might want to know what is going on with internet radio services and why your favorite online stations may soon have to change their formats:
More: www.savenetradio.org/about/index.html
More: www.rackforce.com/blog/?p=31
Quote:
On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio's royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industrys future.
At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters royalties will grow exponentially!
Before this ruling was handed down, the vast majority of webcasters were barely making ends meet as Internet radio advertising revenue is just beginning to develop. Without a doubt most Internet radio services will go bankrupt and cease webcasting if this royalty rate is not reversed by the Congress, and webcasters demise will mean a great loss of creative and diverse radio. Surviving webcasters will need sweetheart licenses that major record labels will be only too happy to offer, so long as the webcaster permits the major label to control the programming and playlist. Is that the Internet radio you care to hear?
More: www.savenetradio.org/about/index.html
Quote:
Those fees will add up quickly for larger webcasters; the Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN) calculates that, assuming that the average station plays 16 songs per hour, sites would have to pay about 1.28 cents per listener per hour using the 2006 rate, and would owe this retroactively, in addition to licensing fees going forward. RAINs math indicates that the rate would render Internet radio unsustainable, or at the very least, more ad-laden than terrestrial radio and thats before the songwriters licenses are taken into account [...]
More: www.rackforce.com/blog/?p=31
