Help Save Internet Radio!
Calling all music lovers; musicians and listeners alike:
Internet radio as we know it is in serious danger. 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 industry’s 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!
As you probably know, Internet Radio is a great source for discovering new music and is a great tool for new artists to get heard by a larger audience. If these new royalty rates are allowed to go into effect, this essentially amounts to a death sentence for a majority of existing Internet radio sites which run on little or no funding. Please take a moment right now and visit savenetradio.org for more information and to help the fight to stop these royalty hikes.
