Save Net Radio

The future of Internet radio is in danger.

I am not sure what I can do to save it, except announce why I value Internet radio and ask you to join me in my support of the “Internet Radio Equality Act,” introduced by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.).

I tried to put the banner up on my blog here but I am not sure how to do it. I posted a picture of their banner instead. So please click on this link and go to

www.savenetradio.org

If you live in the United States, the above website will give you information on how to contact your congressman. If you are an international listener like myself, you can sign a petition and post your comments. I encourage everyone to do this.

I love Internet radio. I listen to live365.com to get programming that is not available on regular commercial radio. I value this service so much that I subscribe to it. I have no problem paying for this service. My problem is that the government of the United States of America are subjecting this form of radio to unfair fees. It is not fair.

Listeners of net radio do not download the music or own it in anyway. Net radio is just like regular AM or FM radio. We listen to it the same way. It should be in line with regular radio.

I know why it is important to track what songs are played and how often. I support that stations operate the same way as regular radio and pay the fees so that artists and labels get paid when their music is played. This has been happening with the creditable and mainstream net radio stations and service providers.

Here is a quotation from Live365.com’s website,

Internet radio, particularly Live365, has been paying its fair share of royalties to composers, performers, publishers, artists, and record labels since day one. We’d like a call for parity in royalty treatment for all radio formats, including Internet, terrestrial (AM/FM), satellite, and cable.

The new government bill that subjects Internet radio stations to a 300% increase in fees this year and a 1200% increase over the next five years takes affect on May 15, 2007. We need to stop this now.

Internet radio does not hurt artists or labels. It supports them the same way that regular radio does. In fact, this year alone, I have bought more CDs than I have in the past several years. Most of the new CDs I bought this year came to my attention from net radio, and in particular the excellent station thebassment.com (see my post Recognizing Talent that I posted on Tuesday April 24, 2007)

So please do something to save net radio. If we don’t, most net radio stations will be bankrupt and silenced on May 15, 2007. We cannot allow this to happen. Thank you.