Title sums it up, the RIAA wants to charge internet radio stations royalties on a per-song, per-listener basis. Here's a couple links: http://www.di.fm/blog/read/2007/03/new-music-royalty-rates-are-about-to.html

http://lineage2.mmoradio.com/global/New_Royalty_Rates_For_Internet_Radio_Say_Good-Bye_to_Every_Station.php

Update: Apparently a bill called the "Internet Radio Equality Act" is being introduced. Sorry I don't have any more info on it at the moment, but I'm sure a quick Google search will find something.

Wow, that's gay beyond belief. Especially since FM radio stations don't pay for songs. The online stations mainly play mainstream music, and today's mainstream artists make plenty of money as it is.

We at KMNR just had to shut down our webstream or we were going to be charged $15,000 in back pay for the fees incurred by this ridiculous set of rules.

From the way it seems to be worded, this would also affect broadcast (AM/FM) stations that stream their feeds on the internet, meaning that the only streaming music we're getting in the future is going to be all Clear Channel shit, the reason people stopped listening to broadcast radio in the first place.
If broadcast radio stations (many, but not all, of whom have the money to do this sort of thing) don't have to pay to play their music, why should online stations have to do the same, especially considering that many of them operate on much narrower budgets than broadcast stations do.
For those who think this is outrageous, I suggest going here: http://www.congress.org/congressorg/iss ... lid=custom and sending your congressperson a letter to let them know that you oppose this happening.

This sounds right to me. There's a certain talk radio show where the host recently indicated that they don't include the bumper music in their pod casts due to needing to pay a per listener fee.

The thing I don't understand is why congress is involved. I understand that a lot of people like listening to streaming music, but the RIAA charging silly fees isn't infringing on anyone's rights. My understanding is that the labels basically own the rights to the songs, so it's up to them to distribute them as the please. Besides, the more shortsided they are in their decision making now, the quicker that competition from another source will catch up with them and reform the system entirely.

Yeah, but how far is too far? This shit is getting ridiculous. Like they aren't rich enough with the money they currently get?

Surprise! The RIAA loves you, and music, and the music community, thats why they need to give the artists more money (and by artists i mean themselves and their lawyers).

You didnt really think they would stop at suing poor college students for multiple millions of dollars did you? Of course not, that would be asinine!

Clear Channel sucks. It's the reason FM radio is dead to me. Bunch of right-wing tools (producing Limbaugh among others) that worry more about money and promotion than actual music... and screwing with my man Howard Stern... haha.

Clear Channel isn't going to be around in its current form for too much longer.

That does not take into account the fact that many stations not owned by Clear Channel follow the same basic programming schedules.

And to be honest, I think that the biggest problem is that the people making the policies don't (or don't want to) understand anything about the technologies (and/or economics thereof) that they are dealing with.

The United States Copyright Royalty Judges have denied the rehearing on the ruling increasing rates charged to internet radio sites. A copy of the denial ruling is here: Http://www.savenetradio.org/press_room/ ... enying.pdf. I find it scary that many internet radio sites may soon disappear, as I enjoy many internet broadcasts. A coalition has been formed to petition congress to intervene. I am not sure what effect this will have, but some effort must be made. The website for this coalition is http://www.savenetradio.org/. I urge you to review this information and act on it appropriately. They allow you to alert your U.S. Senators, U.S. Representative, and State Govener with a generic form.

-enjoy

Fortunately, last.fm will still be around due to it being in the UK. The same cannot be said for somafm.

If you guys are unware, the RIAA and the MPAA (Music Publishers Association of America) are also trying to stop people from using tabs without paying for them, even if they are created by a random guy and meant to be free. They are citing copyright infringement and many tablature sites have already shut down or stopped temporarily pending the outcome of all the legal shit, out of fear that the RIAA will come in with its army of lawyers and sue the everliving fuck out of them.

Just for clarification, they are trying to STOP THE SHARING OF FREE INFORMATION, THAT IS BY ITS CREATORS, INTENDED TO BE FREE. All this so the MPAA can sell more sheet music (which i would never buy anyway).

i was under the impression that "MPAA" stood for "Motion Picture Association of America"... you see their logo after the credits on practically every movie.