Interesting thing going on, an attempt to squash free Internet radio before it can really get started. We know who cares as much as we few listeners, that would be subscription XM satelite, Insight Cable, 107.7 Classic Rock (Not Classic Talk), Time Warner, Sony, the Murdoch News Corporation etc.
It seems that a small panel called the Copyright Royalty Board was empowered to and did decree that Internet radio streaming broadcasts would pay rates, and that they would be above those on FM radio, AND they would go to copyright holders (e.g. Sony, EMI, etc) rather than just the artists as in the conventional radio AM/FM broadcast model. This is set to begin July 15th, 2007, and will essential wipe out the small 'freecast' phenomenon one can see for example on on the iTunes Radio dial.
Money talks, don't it? :)
Have a listen to the 128 Kbs bitstream on 'RadioParadise' to get an idea of what should have been possible. (You can find it in iTunes under 'Radio'or direcly by Google.)
(Interview with the creators here:
the-view-from-paradise/
I wonder if we have the only genuine rock station on NPR in the country, and how long that can last. That even makes the iPod irrelevant in Louisville, and cell phones are adding high quality FM tuners.
1 comment:
I believe WFPK is going to stop webstreaming when the new rate hikes kick in. I'm more worried about David Byrne's radio project. I hope he keeps it up, Check out "radio davidbyrne.com" before it is to late.
Post a Comment