Save Internet Radio!
To quote the website SaveNetRadio.org:
"On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio's royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry's future.
"At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005-that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters' royalties will grow exponentially!
Essentially, this is Corporate Radio and the RIAA trying to squash independent music...again. Independent musicians rely on small Internet radio stations to get their music played and heard, and this ruling will essentially put small Internet radio stations out of business. This is a HUGE BLOW to independent musicians everywhere! So please, visit SaveNetRadio.org and do what you can to fight this ruling. Congress is listening, so there's hope.
Thank you.
(To read a paraphrasing of my letter to my Senators and Congresswoman, see my LJ profile.)