A decision upheld by a federal copyright panel will raise the royalty fees that Webcasters of internet radio stations will have to pay record labels earlier this week. On Monday, the three judges on the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board stated that none of the Webcasters or National Public Radio's filings "made a sufficient showing of new evidence or clear error or manifest injustice that would warrant rehearing," and that they are "nothing more than a rehash of the arguments the Judges previously considered."
They also declined to postpone the May 15 deadline when the new fees are scheduled to begin. The new rules will hike the prices up .08 cents per song per listener. They will also climb to .19 cents per song by 2010. Each station will also have to hand over a minimum of $500 royalty payment under the new ruling.
Artists, labels, Webcasters, and listeners have banded together to create the SaveNetRadio Coalition in order to get congress involved. The new prices are likely to put many radio stations out of business, due to the cost to profit margin. Internet radio is farely popular, but most Webcasters rely on website ads such as banner ads, and on air sponsorships that just don't generate enough revenue to pay for the higher royalty fees.
In my opinion, this is a horrible decision. Internet radio is just like traditional radio. It entices people to purchase the music in the forms of CD's or internet downloads from popular services such as Itunes, from the artists they hear on their favorite stations. If so many internet radio stations go bankrupt, it will hurt many people in the music industry as well as you, the listener.
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