Internet Radio Lives

SoundExchange, the representative of the studios for Internet radio licensing, has made available a new royalty scheme for Internet radio, under a deal reached with Internet radio providers AccuRadio, Digitally Imported and RadioIO. Pandora, which has lobbied me heavily on the issue, is expected to join the deal. The Copyright Royalty Board, a U.S. government tribunal designed to set fair rates for internet radio in the absence of an agreement, had set rates far in excess of what most providers were able to pay that threatened to put the entire industry out of business.

The compromise turned out to be a 10-year deal, covering 2006-2015, with an escalating royalty scale and a clause by which Internet radio companies can often pay a percentage of their revenue.

The percentage is up to 25% of gross revenues and the per song alternative fee is less than the Copyright Royalty Tribunal number.