Posted on 05/02/2007 6:54:09 PM PDT by DesScorp
The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger. Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). If the increased rates remain unchanged, the majority of webcasters will go bankrupt and silent on this date. Internet radio needs your help! H.R. 2060, The Internet Radio Equality Act was introduced by Representatives Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Donald Manzullo (R-IL ) to save the Internet radio industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at savenetradio.org ...
one more step to the “fairness doctrine”
Nuke the whales!!
expand fairness and nothing matters and we will all just be laying around in our own shit
Don’t you think that is because the “corporate” radio stations are already paying more than the internet stations pay?
This is the same tactic that the RIAA did with satellite radio. They don’t want it and they also don’t want to innovate.
Digital radio is going well in Europe but not here.
I would say this amounts to Restraint of Trade.
My feeling is that no matter what happens the old heritage wireless stations won the contest the minute they purchased servers and routers and went on the WWW. They have the name recognition and product that sets the standard. The old underground FM stations in your buddy's basement of the late sixties and early seventies didn't survive either. If an Internet station wishes and expects to survive it will be with a product that can stand financially without government help.
FACT: At some point every day more than 7 million Americans are listening to Internet radio. Studies by Arbitron and Bridge Ratings conclude that between 50 and 70 million Americans listen to Internet radio every month, and about 20 percent of 18-34 year olds listen to Internet radio every week.
I'll suggest that the Internet radio that people are listening to is the old traditional station on the Internet. That is what I do. I listen to the radio in my car. I get out of my car and go into my office and boot up and listen to the same station. I suspect others in this factoid above do that too.
I'd like to know what are the Internet stations all of these people are listening to because I've tried to do that been extremely unsatisfied. They charge fees or give poor bandwidth and generally do not provide what I want to listen to.
Last thought; all of the cell phone companies are getting into the converged IP content that will be the same media in any location over any platform you wish. You may have seen the recent TV commercials about that. If an Internet Radio Station has a good product, they will probably hook up a partner deal to broad-market it over multiple platforms and lucratively survive.
You could start your own internet radio station, playing only your own original music that you composed and performed. Under the law, you owe fees. It's a racket.
They never learn. Keep fighting the vcr.
F The Planet
(I thought of that and have been wanting to post it.)
I listen to a Live 365 quite a bit and enjoy the niche stations. Two of my favs play the soundtracks from SciFi flicks and TV shows. What big station is going to fill that niche?
Digital radio opens up the airwaves for exponentially increased channels/competition. The possible number of stations in an area can be almost unlimited. Could that the be the motivation here? Internet radio is the same, unlimited entry.
A surprising opinion considering the RIAA has been heavily dependent upon government support.
On what legal basis could they do that? What power do they have to charge you for your own content?
I don’t really care one way or the other. I already have all the bootleg MP3s that I need.
Screw the RIAA.
isnt the internets a series of tubes?
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