Will Royalty Fees Make Internet Radio a Fleeting Reality?

Recently I started listening a lot more to internet radio stations. I sat down yesterday to use the computer for a bit and went to their website for a little listening enjoyment. Much to my surprise, their music along with that of a several other internet radio stations was suspended for the day. What was the cause for the day of silence? To protest governmental action that will ensure them an imminent end unless the public pulls together to ask their senators for help.

On March 2, 2007 the United States Copyright Royalty Board decided to increase the rates that internet radio stations have to pay for each performance of that artist's song. The rate increase might not see like much at first glance, only $0.0008 per performance, but it gets worse. A performance isn't each time the station plays that song, but every time someone hears it. So say there are 15,000 people listening to an internet radio station and it comes up to the next song. In 4 or 5 minutes when that song is over that station will have just incurred an additional $12. Even that might not seem like a lot, but if you do the math you'll see it can easily hit an extra one to two thousand a day! Still not convinced? Here's the kicker: This is retroactive to January 1, 2006. Even if these new restrictions added an extra $100 a day to an internet radio station's budget, that traced back 18 months would equal around $54,000! Now these are all speculations that depend on the size of an internet radio station's listener base, but one thing is clear. The internet is going to be a lot quieter here pretty soon.

There is hope on the horizon though. The Internet Radio Equality Act, introduced by Congressmen Jay Inslee and Donald Manzullo, will nullify the effects of the new demands upon the internet radio stations. If it's passed, that is. On June 26th, 2007 many internet radio stations stopped playing music for the day to bring the public's attention to this matter. It was an attempt to show how quiet the internet would soon be with many stations going out of business soon if the Internet Radio Equality Act isn't passed. The stations are currently asking for people to contact their senators to ask them to join Senators Ron Wyden and Sam Brownback, the two senators who introduced the Senate's version of the bill.

To anyone who applies some common sense these rate increases won't make any sense at all. If the majority of these internet radio stations suddenly fall off the face of the earth due to outrageous fees, they won't be there anymore to pay the current fees! It'd be much better for everyone around if the current reasonable fees were maintained. This way, the internet radio stations, which are viable businesses, would be able to continue to generate revenue for themselves, provide a service to internet listeners, promote artists AND pay royalty fees to them. Then again, I'm not a bureaucrat. Maybe it makes more sense to just absolutely destroy a whole entire line of businesses and squash their contributions to the economy. If your interested in finding out how to ask your senator to support the Internet Radio Equality Act, check the link below. Let's all help keep these internet radio stations above water.