Senators and Representatives have limited time left to pass the The Internet Radio Equality Act. If they don’t get their act together in time, SoundExchange wins and internet radio stations around the country will pay a huge increase in fees (retroactive through 2006) and/or be shut down.
The deadline is Sunday, July 15th.
My Exploit Boston Radio station focuses on all Boston area (mostly unsigned and indie) bands and I’ve been thinking about turning it into a podcast. But it’s pretty much impossible to duplicate the existing station that I’ve got set up at Live365 with 604 songs and over 24 hours of music.
- Call your senators and representatives
- Learn more about The Internet Radio Equality Act
- Read John Simson from SoundExchange describe his flawed thinking
N. Mark Lam, CEO of Live365:
We believe Congress and the public share our outrage over the fundamental inequity in royalty rates. Why is it that terrestrial radio pays NO royalties and satellite and cable radio pay much lower royalties than internet radio to SoundExchange? Many artists have also contacted us to voice opposition to new CRB rates that will decimate Internet radio and eliminate their chance to be heard. The momentum of public opinion and business sense is on our side and we plan to continue to fight for artists, webcasters and their audiences until a resolution is found.