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You’re Screwed If You’re an Internet Radio Station
By JLP | March 7, 2007
Royalty-Rate Hike Alarms Web Broadcasters
It’s about to get a lot more expensive to own an online radio station. The Copyright Royalty Board has just issued the new royalty rates:
The rates set by the board, effective retroactively to 2006, start at .08 cents per song, per listener.
WOW! That’s high! Before these rates, online radio stations had to pay 12% of their revenue as royalties, which in my opinion makes much more sense.
Something tells me that this is some sort of deal where the tradional radio stations have the Copyright Royalty Board in their back pocket. Especially when you consider how unfair the online deal is compared to what traditional radio stations pay:
The schedule highlights an inequality that has rankled many online entrepreneurs for years. Regular radio stations don’t pay royalties to performers for their over-the-airwaves broadcasts, although they do pay royalties to composers and songwriters.
What do you guys make of this?
Topics: Business News |