Yahoo Turns Off The Radio

If you want to hear the future of web radio with the Copyright Royalty Board’s new rates in place, chances are your regular music listening fix will be broadcasting the bitter sound of silence today.

Yahoo discussed its participation in the protest. Ian C. Rogers of Yahoo Music wrote on the official Yahoo blog how the new rates, effective July 15 and retroactive to January 1, 2006 (not a typo) would devastate what has been a boon for music fans:

The situation webcasters are in is simple: the new royalty rates are higher than the revenues anyone can hope to make from related advertising. In other words, we all lose money on Internet radio starting July 15th. Yahoo! has no intention of operating LAUNCHcast radio as a loss-leader. This senseless rate hike needs to be changed, or our business will have to.

Yahoo joins major music names like MTV and a host of other sites in protesting the proposed rate increase. Some, like Pandora, have placed a letter on their home pages explaining the protest. KCRW will loop an hour-long program where webcasters discuss the issue.

SaveNetRadio has more information about the Day of Silence. They urge interested people to contact their elected representatives in Washington DC and politely express their concerns about the potential loss of online radio.

The Day the Web Goes Silent

Next Tuesday, June 26, thousands of US webcasters will go silent, including big names like Yahoo, Rhapsody, MTVOnline, and Pandora, as well as more local offerings like BluegrassCountry.org/WAMU.org and RadioMilwaukee.

Some webcasters will cut off their streams entirely while others will play static, ocean sounds, or similar fare with periodic public service announcements of what is happening.

"The arbitrary and drastic rate increases set by the Copyright Royalty Board on March 2nd threaten the very livelihood of thousands of webcasters and their millions of listeners throughout the country," said Jake Ward, a spokesperson for the SaveNetRadio Coalition.

"The campaign to save Internet radio – a genuine grassroots movement comprised of hundreds of thousands of webcasters, artists and independent labels, and Net radio listeners – has quickly brought this issue to the national forefront and the halls of Congress, but there is still more to be done before the approaching deadline of July
15th.

"On Tuesday, thousands of webcasters will call on their millions of listeners to join the fight to save Internet radio and contact their Congressional representatives to ask for their support of the Internet Radio Equality Act."

After July 15, the CRB plans to impose its new rates, a policy that is retroactive, requiring Net radio providers pay the new rates for the previous 17 months as well.

The complete list on Internet radio stations participating in the Day of Silence are as follows:

Yahoo!
Live365 stations,
Rhapsody,
MTV Online,
AccuRadio,
KCRW (Santa Monica, CA),
Pandora,
Radioio,
DigitallyImported,
RadioParadise,
3WK,
myMVY,
Wizard Radio,
Born Again Radio,
Pearadio.com,
Ear.fm,
WGLI (Bablylon, NY),
WMUK (Kalamazoo, MI),
Head-On Radio Network,
Zecom/Gemz Radio,
monkeygrip music cafe,
KFCF (Fresno, CA),
LuckySevenRadio.com,
Blue Power/Guitar Speak,
WPNA (Oak Park, IL),
60′s Chicks Radio/Seasons &
Celebrations Radio,
STAR 107.9,
WRPS/WebRadioPugetSound,
Puregold Rock ‘N Roll,
NeverEndingWonder Radio,
RadioMilwaukee,
BAGeL Radio,
Gotradio/100hitz,
KDUN (Reedsport, OR),
GDRadio.net,
KQLZ (Los Angeles, CA),
KXPR/KXJZ (Sacramento, CA),
NiceNoise.Net,
BlackLight Radio,
Pure Pop 24/7,
Smooth Jazz and More,
Reggae Nostalgia,
WCH Radio/The Wave,
WYGS Southern Gospel Radio
Network,
BluegrassCountry.org/WAMU.