After the demise of the first incarnation of Live365 in 2016, European streaming platform Radionomy remained the last platform to offer free streaming to internet radio stations. However, the writing was already on the wall earlier this year when Radionomy left the U.S. market. Though not confirmed, one might conjecture this was a result of […]
In the U.S. the copyright situation for music and sound recordings made before 1972 is a mess of different and conflicting state laws. That’s because there is no overarching federal law. The unintended consequence is that archivists, librarians and artists are often afraid to duplicate, distribute or repurpose very old recordings that – if they […]
Independent internet radio was devastated in January 2016 when music royalty rates shot up and long-time webcasting company Live365 went out of business. Now Live365 is back under new ownership, and CEO Jon Stephenson joins the show to tell us how the company is ready to help small webcasters get back to broadcasting online affordably, […]
Just after the new year, the news hit that steaming radio service Live365 is preparing to come back from dead. The company is under completely new ownership. In fact, the new boss is a young entrepreneur and recent University of Pittsburgh graduate who already runs another streaming media company by himself, along with the help […]
On this week’s show we hear about efforts to preserve radio’s past, and the FCC’s letter writing campaign intended to undermine pirate operators. Jennifer Waits joins to talk about the Library of Congress’ recent Radio Preservation Task Force conference. She explains why preservation efforts provide not just an important record of radio’s past, but also […]
Another major threat to small and medium sized internet radio stations has surfaced. As Torrent Freak first reported Tuesday, on February 26 four major recording labels filed suit in federal court against internet radio platform Radionomy, charging that the company engaged in copyright infringement. The plaintiffs–Arista Records, LaFace Records, Sony Music and Zomba Records–allege that […]
We dig into the Copyright Royalty Board’s decision on new royalty payments for internet radio, looking for clues about the future of small and medium-sized webcasters. In our final review of the 20th anniversary of the Telecom Act of 1996, Matthew Lasar explains how the Act and the political environment of the time affected community […]
Five new low-power FM stations have been granted their full licenses in the last week: KQRZ-LP, Oregon Amateur Radio Club (Hillsboro, OR) WTPB-LP, Third Presbyterian Church of Rockford (Rockford, IL) WEMV-LP, Elijah Message Ministry (Vandalia, IL) KMYB-LP, Killeen Independent School District (Killeen, TX) WBNH-LP, Town of Bedford, NH LPFMs Mostly Unaffected by New Performance Royalty […]
Twenty years ago a piece of legislation was passed that would change radio forever–and not for the better. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 lifted ownership restrictions on stations, unleashing an onslaught of acquisitions, consolidation and the ultimate devastation of local radio in communities across the country. Dr. Christopher Terry from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee joins […]
Thousands of internet radio stations have gone silent in 2016, while thousands more may yet shut down, primarily because of new performance royalty fees that have skyrocketed for small and mid-sized internet radio stations. In this piece I explore how this challenge might encourage some webcasters to give up complying with the law and simply […]
