Net Radio Debate Simmers Despite Deals

from the can't-please-everyone dept

As expected, plenty of online webcasters aren't too thrilled with the recent rates set by the RIAA. Even though they're significantly lower than past rates, many non-profit online broadcasters see problems in the rates. There are too many limitations, and some are complaining that they had no say in the deal. It still seems a bit short-sighted for the RIAA to try to squeeze money out of a group of people who are trying to promote their artists for no financial benefit to themselves. Allowing the stations to promote the artists seems a lot more likely to bring in revenue to the industry than going around and forcing these tiny webcasters to cough up $500/year. Update: Wired News has more details about why some are unhappy. Apparently, there are still plenty of playlist limitations, and the rates only apply if you have fewer than 200 simultaneous listeners. If you get to be more popular, you suddenly have to pay a lot more.

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