Online Radio Troubles

[image via Modern Mechanix ]

Teh internets are all a-buzz today with the news of a decision from the Copyright Royalty Board [CRB].

As we discussed before, the CRB determined that a royalty rate hike on songs played by internet radio streams was in order. There is a fine article at the BBC that lays out the details once again.

Yesterday's decision by the CRB states that they will not overturn their previous decision to significantly increase royalties paid on each song played on an internet radio station. There was hope that there would be some leeway and a compromise could be reached, but this decision sinks that hope. Now, the only action left is to conduct "negotiaions" via litigation in the court system.

Musician David Byrne has taken a stance on the issue, and it makes for good reading. It is especially relevant, being that Byrne is both a musician and internet radio broadcaster.

The advocacy site SaveNetRadio.org put together this video, in the style of your average campaign commercial:

Internet Radio in Danger in the US.

[ image courtesy of yomanimus / Flickr ]

There has been much discussion surrounding the fallout of the Copyright Royalty Board's [CRB] recent decision to increase the royalty amount that US internet radio stations will have to pay. It is a graduated plan, set to double in five years, and includes all stations commercial and non-commercial, whether they are creating a new content stream or simulcasting a terrestrial signal.

NPR and the CPB have come out guns a-blazing, lawyers in tow, to get the decision overturned. Representatives from soundexchange.com [the company that does the lobbying for the CRB] have been quoted in a rather unfavorable light. This quote courtesy of internetnews.com's article on the matter:

We're all fans of Internet radio. We don't want to see Internet radio go away. These are negotiations. We're not trying to stick it to anybody. In terms of what happens next? Either side could appeal to the U.S. District court...

I gotta say that the handling of the price "negotiations" via the US Judicial System is sending a message of sorts to involved parties.

This all seems myopic on the part of the CRB. If this arrangement stays in place, it will have a cooling effect, if not a total deep freeze, on the internet radio world. Many webcasters have already come forward to say that they will not be able to sustain operations with the full weight of the increases on their backs.

If the webcasters in the US are reduced or driven out of business, I think we could full well expect international webcasters to fill in the gaps. We have been talking about internet radio being the future, but this decision looks to put a serious damper on the efforts here in the US.

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Ofcom is REALLY prolific.

Remeber yesterday when I said that Ofcom was prolific? If you didn't believe me, here are 324 additional pages, released today, with which I shall refute you. [This is in addition to the 221-page report they released yesterday.]

They have put together a set of essays from a series of knowledgeable experts from across the globe. The focus is international and broken down into five categories: Trends and Challenges, The Changing Nature of Regulation in the Public Interest, Economic Regulation Beyond 2010, Utilizing the Airwaves, and Global Areas of Focus.

This is a massive set of writings. Ofcom is actually having it published, and making it available for £25. I haven't had a chance to make it through yet, but I imagine there are many gems contained therein. If you do read it, post your comments here, if you would.
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