Why I Care About Internet Radio
- May 14th, 2007 /
I listen to internet radio all day long at work and often in the evening at home. It is such a wonderful medium to listen to music because of the diversity of what you can find. When I moved to New Orleans from LA, my favorite radio station KCRW came with me in the form of KCRWmusic.com, which I listen to religiously.
Internet radio is under attack. As soon as July 15th, the landscape could change dramatically due to new royalty rates that are set to take effect then. These rates would effectively drive smaller broadcasters off the air. According to the New York Times:
The proposed increases could raise the cost of sound recordings for Internet stations 300 percent to 1,200 percent, and have set off a furious political struggle…..Those efforts prompted Senators Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, to introduce legislation last Thursday to reverse a Copyright Royalty Board decision setting the new rates.
There is something we can do:
- Visit SaveNetRadio.org and sign the petiton and read about the recent bill to reverse the decision.
I sure hope that thoughtful understanding of the value of diversity of music on the internet prevails over the corporate interests working to line the pockets of the record industry.
Shout outs to my personal web radio favorites:
- KCRWmusic.com (LA)
- KEXP.org (Seattle)
- WWOZ (New Orleans)
- RadioParadise.com
- categories: All /
May 14, 2007 at 11:57 am
Amen, brother! I signed the petition a few weeks ago, and have sent a message through a friend in D.C. to get a message to my local representative. The first thing I do in the morning when I get to work, is turn on Internet radio, and I listen to it until the moment I leave in the afternoon. I will be really depressed if my radio stations go away. KEXP rocks. It’s my daily music education. bk