Today, July 15, is supposed to have been the date that thousands of internet radio broadcasters are sent to their final resting place. This is due mainly to the ten-fold increase in royalty payments that the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) plans to impose.
The heart of the conflict is that the internet broadcasters argue that such rates would put them out of business. At the other end, commercial artists and record companies, through their collection agent called Soundexchange, argue that the hike was necessary to ensure proper compensation for their work.
So it was basically a whirlwind week last week when court testimonies and arguments went back and forth regarding this issue. And then there were the private meetings and negotiations that ended up in Capitol Hill. When the dust settled, internet radio is still alive ... just barely.
Continue reading "Prolonging Internet Radio's Agony"
