Tuesday, July 07, 2009

New Internet radio royalty rate reached

The long standing battle between the RIAA and SoundExchange, and Internet radio webcasters is finally over after a long two-year battle.

The parties reached an agreement today on a royalty rate to 2015 (2014 for small webcasters) and retroactive back to 2006 - which includes a discount of rates for large webcasters and percentage-based payment options for small webcasters set by the Copyright Royalty Board.

The agreement splits "pureplay" webcasters into three distinct categories: large, small, and paid subscription. The deal also requires stations to keep records of songs played.

Many webcasters feared a large surge in royalty payments would put them out of business.

Pandora has opted to make its Internet streams a pay service, so it will fall under the paid subcription category.

No comments: