By now you've likely heard the news about the Copyright Board's ruling regarding net radio. Simply put, it approximately triples the amount paid to record labels via SoundExchange for streaming Internet radio over the next three years, changes the way the payments are computed (from what is called an "Aggregate Tuning Hour" basis to a straight "per play"), adds a confusing and onerous "per station minimum" fee with no maximum, and extends the new rates back to the beginning of 2006. Many small Webcasters won't be able to afford this, and you can bet large Webcasters like us are all taking a hard look at the Internet radio business and our products to decide if it's really worth the cost. Big companies might have more money, but they can't stay in businesses where they don't make any profit, a pretty simple business fact.
Compare the implications of this decision to terrestrial radio which pays NOTHING to SoundExchange, or even satellite radio which pays only 3-7% of their revenue to SoundExchange, and it's hard not to be left scratching your head. The irony of all this, of course, is that this ruling will keep LAUNCHcast, Pandora, and the like out of your living room and push you toward FM, where the labels are paid zero. This decision cuts off a genuine future revenue stream before it has had a chance to grow.
It's not just the Webcasters that will suffer. Higher costs, fewer Internet broadcasters and stations means less diversity overall, and less opportunity for the unlimited spectrum of Internet radio to become a discovery tool for curious listeners and a launching platform for smaller artists. Internet radio features thousands of channels in the narrowest of genres as well as personalized services (LAUNCHcast) and recommendation systems (Pandora), while FM radio (where it still plays music) plays the same songs over and over and the total number of satellite channels is less than five hundred. I am a satellite radio subscriber and can honestly say it doesn't even come close to representing the diversity I get from my personal LAUNCHcast station. Listeners and artists ultimately lose if this infinite spectrum of music choice evaporates or even shrinks to just a few players. The implications for innovation in the space are catastrophic.
Which is why we are asking you to take action RIGHT NOW. We are supporting DIMA (a trade organization representing Yahoo!, AOL, MTV, Pandora, Real, Live365, and many others) and the SAVE NET RADIO campaign on this issue. Please take five minutes right now to visit SaveNetRadio.org, let your representatives know how you feel about this issue, send this post and these links to a friend, and put a link to SaveNetRadio.org on your blog, MySpace page, or site. We are on a very tight timetable to get our voices heard in Washington and legislation introduced before May 15th when the first payment is due under this new ruling. We need your help in making sure Congress is paying attention to this issue.
Thanks for your understanding and support,
Ian C Rogers - Yahoo! Music
