End of streaming?

[AmpedNow]

Found this on RI.

AC format leader B101, Philadelphia pulls down its Internet stream - too costly under new rates

WBEB owner Jerry Lee says “streaming is not a viable business option”, and others will be watching his example. Lee says “the excessive SoundExchange rates don’t work for artists, for local stations, or for listeners.” Lee – who’s led numerous industry trends over the past decades – says “It’s puzzling why SoundExchange would want to destroy a potential growth business opportunity for the artists it purports to represent.” He runs the numbers from the new NAB/SoundExchange deal out to the end of the deal and estimates that by 2015, about half the revenue B101 would be generating form streaming music online would go to SoundExchange in fees. He’s pulling the plug as of Sunday, March 15.

What's funny is some on that board immediately touted the "death of internet streaming" and a return to the good ol' days, missing the point of this situation.

IMO, this is a brilliant protest to draw attention to this royalty problem.

Never mind that this recession sucks, but why not get a six-year head start on this issue, as it will be huge in 2015 if nothing is done. Also, by then, there will be far more established streams that this will affect.

Another issue is those damn AFTRA royalties... I don't understand why radio chose to ignore this instead of working out a deal. Otherwise, a stream cannot count as a simulcast, according to Arbitron. With the listenership numbers of some streams, an AFTRA deal would pay for itself with the extra ears they could sell.

SoundExchange: the 2007 bill to repeal the CRB ruling died in committee, and never seen the light of day in congress. After two years of relative inactivity, it's time to revisit this issue.

Resume the fight.

[sportsvoice]

Sounds like radio is reaping what it has sown, between this and the attempts to charge performance royalties on over-the-air music.

If big radio didn't want the onerous royalty structure for streaming, at the least they stood idly by while it was put in place in order to get small webcasters killed off and eliminate competition. Now it's coming back to bite them in the ass.

Something has to be done to make royalties reasonable and fair for streaming.

[AmpedNow]

For one, it's not the end of streaming. Perhaps a bump in the road, but far from over.

At worst, I can see smaller operators and the less profitable streams from the big guys taking a hiatus for a time, but will be back eventually.

This mostly affects music stations. N/T stations will remain unaffected, except for AFTRA.

Also, contracts can be renegotiated. It's good to bring this up now, because in another 2-3 years, it will be too late. Streamers would just have to eat the excessive royalties for a time, or go dark.