Web Radio Royalties
Web radio may be entirely gone very soon.
Why, you ask? Because the United States Copyright Royalty Board, in March, decided on new royalty rates for web radio stations. Not only are these rates ridiculous, they are also retroactive through 2006.
Newsweek says over 50 million Americans listen to Internet radio each month, and every single one of them will be affected by these new fees.
Digitally Imported, one of my favorite web radio stations, estimates they will owe an incredible $2 million by July 15th, if the Internet Radio Equality Act (H.R. 2060) is not allowed to pass. Other stations, like SomaFM, expect similar fees, which nominally range between 100% and 500% of revenue, according to Digitally Imported.
If you enjoy listening to web radio, check out SaveNetRadio.org. You can also read more about this situation at Digitally Imported's blog.