Earlier this month, the Copyright Royalty Board decided to raise per song royalties for Internet broadcasts. The rate hikes could effectively kill Internet radio now and forever by making it an impossible business model. I’m not sure if that was the goal of the CRB; rather I suspect it was just a ruling made without considering the full breadth of its consequences.
Regardless, Internet radio will be no more unless the ruling is re-considered. A number of the largest and most popular online radio stations, including Accuradio and Pandora, have sponsored this petition to the CRB, which I urge you to sign. It only takes a minute. Please Save the Streams!
And if you haven’t experienced Pandora, you really need to give it a try. It uses the technology of the Music Genome Project to create custom radio stations based on the inner workings of a song, resulting in music you are almost guaranteed to enjoy, but might not have ever heard before.
I have to disagree. As a struggling musician, I am seriously considering giving it up because a musician can’t make money anymore. Thieves steal music from the internet. For example; Paul McCartney has just signed up with Starbucks, yes Starbucks–because once your music is on the internet, it’s immediately stolen. The artist gets nothing.
Pandora is indeed a national treasure. I think I may actually love it more than my own mother.