Music royalty rates to ramp up

If music licenses go up I am going off the air


  • Total voters
    3

Harty

Member
I hear from various sources that music royalty licenses are going to jump up. How is this affecting your operation and will you be forced off the air.
Are we about to enter a whole new era of pirate radio - this time online?
 

F109 Radio

New Member
Not sure where you are in the world Harty, but royalties are bound to go up as more and more people turn to Internet Radio for their listening preferences.
I am broadcasting from Canada, and so far my royalty licensing fees are quite reasonable. Having said that though, I also know that licensing in the
United States is a lot more complicated and costly, and as you gain more listeners, your fees go up, regardless of the income you are generating. If my station
was broadcasting in the United States I would already of blown by the first tiers of fees based on Total Listening Hours and I would be paying a hefty MONTHLY fee to broadcast.

With that as an intro, I think if fees get too high it will force amateur radio to close shop and we will be left with only "the big boys." Unfortunately, its an inevitability.
It happened in the past when radio was in its hay-day (pre-TV era), and once the lawyers fully grasp these "new" technologies - they too will be captured and held hostage
by record labels and production companies.

I don't mean to be a downer - I in no way support this idea. But I'm quite certain of the greed of this whole enterprise (the music industry as a whole), and the money will finally
win out and shut us all down at some point. And yes, if the fees were to skyrocket beyond what I think is reasonable, it will definitely impact my operation and most likely shut me
down permanently.

Its always been my hope that our medium will be embraced and our fees will stay reasonable and keep us operating for years to come.
Its important to point out that I am in NO WAY in favor of going pirate, as this will just add fuel to the "record labels" argument and could very well be the last nail in the coffin.
I am happy to pay some sort of royalty licensing, but it needs to stay reasonable so we have a good balance of stations offering services to the public.

My two cents anyway. ;)
 
Top