Can Internet Radio Survive?

curunir writes: "Salon is running an interesting interview with the program manager for the internet radio station, SomaFM. He discusses some of the effects of the recent CARP recommendations (previously discussed on /. here). We all know the DMCA is bad, but this seems to be a particularly good example of where its broad nature is curbing reasonable web uses."

Comments

All the radio stations that I liked are login only

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not listening if I have to log in.

They have no chance to survive. Make their time.

Internet radio was already in trouble...

[moonless]

Internet radio stations may want to be treated just like their AM/FM cousins, and blame the difference in the way they're treated on the DMCA and on CARP. But the reality is that internet radio stations have the worst of both worlds - all of the problems of radio and of internet startups.

Consider - normal radio is portable. AM/FM stations are available wherever there are radios. Although stations have limited broadcast ranges, everyday listeners generally don't travel between cities and thus have no problems with this. Satellite radio may eradicate even this problem. But internet radio stations depend on computers - and the reality is that the vast majority of people [even some /. readers] spend time away from their computers.

So, internet radio stations are less available than AM/FM ones. In addition, they have to struggle for revenue in the same way that .com startups do - things like banner ads and subscriptions. Because there are so many stations out there, it is not economically feasible for an advertiser to put a banner ad out on a page and simply assume that enough people will see it. And many stations play continuous music/talk, without broadcast ads. This means that they're suffering through the same money pinch that the rest of internet businesses are.

So, in the end, the CARP ruling is simply the straw that breaks the camel's back. Although it's true that many internet stations offer far superior content, they suffer from some very obvious problems. They're not portable, which makes them less convienient for their audiences; their smaller audiences make advertising less profitable anyways; and because they often depend, like other internet content businesses, on things like banner ads and subscriptions, their financial situations are often precarious anyways.

So sure, the DMCA and CARP are harming the internet radio industry. But the industry was already in trouble to begin with; this might itself have caused the same kind of commercialization and consolidation that CARP will likely force on the stations.

Choices, choices, choices.

[Doktor Memory]

Because if I try to set up a low-power FM station out of my bedroom here in Brooklyn to broadcast my favorite tracks to my neighbors, the FCC will throw my ass in jail for interfering with the signals of the local ClearChannel Inc. "Classic Rock" and "Alternative" stations.

The FM radio band is a scarce resource regulated by the government. In most major urban areas, there hasn't been a new station license granted in years, sometimes decades.

Internet broadcasting, on the other hand, is limited only by aggregate bandwidth. A thousand stations can sound just as good as two. And the startup costs are much, much lower: get a PC, a copy of IceCast, a $100 sound card and microphone, and suddenly you're a DJ. Sure, maybe only ten people are listening, but that's the whole point: those ten people found just the thing they were looking for.

College Radio will survive online

[Talsan]

I am the Station Manager for a small college station in Chicago, and I just received information from SESAC (one of the three big licensing companies) regarding their fees... I was rather concerned at first, given that we have a very limited budget, however their fees for broadcasting our signal online are only $102/year. If BMI and ASCAP charge similar amounts, it'll stretch our budget, however we'll be able to manage.

Of course, who knows how it will end up for commercial stations at this point.

-Tal

Big money

[TheFlu]

I thought the guys math was wrong when he said it would cost them $350,000 a year in fees, but after doing it myself, that seems about right (thanks The Fanfan for this equation from the old story).

1600 listeners * 24 hrs/day * 96 perfs/hr = 3686400 = $737.28 per day

That's $269,107 per year. I'm sure Soma's calculations more accurate than my own educated guesses above.

Interesting stance on the "perfect copy" thing

[1in10]

I found it interesting that it was said that internet radio and napster are different cases. I think that given the stand being taken is that the DMCA should only be concerned with perfect digital copies, and that mp3s are not perfect digital copies, it becomes a bit hard to seperate the two.

I mean, either it's perfect or it's not - how close various lossy audio formats come to perfect is a matter of much debate and so I find it hard to see how you could impose any sort of distinction other than perfect or not perfect.

The DMCA will usher in the dawn of a new age.

[xeniten]

The DMCA will certianly kill Internet Radio stations that play copyrighted music.

But...what about Internet Radio stations that play copyfree or copy left music ?

If I am forbidden to share copyrighted material on the internet in anyway shape or form, then I'll gladly oblige, the DMCA and it's creators, I'll indulge my sences and satisfy my needs with copyfree or copyleft material.

I'll read material posted freely on the internet .

I shall listen to music created by artists that have not signed deals with the powermad Music industry.

I'll watch films and video produced by copyfree artists on the internet.

And I won't spend a dime on copyrighted materials ever again.

And one day neither will you.

Because one day there won't be ANY copyrighted material available on the internet, AND WE WON'T MISS IT A BIT!

Re:They are already paying all the fees

[nucal]

A petition filed by Live365 outlines their position that the royalty structure of the CARP cannot work for alternate audio streams:

At one end of the spectrum are a small group of webcasters such as Yahoo! and AOL well-established Internet companies, with numerous successful revenue streams, tens of millions of subscribers or users, and well-defined infrastructures already in place. ... In stark contrast are most webcasters (such as Live365), which currently operate at the opposite end of the spectrum. These webcasters are in the early stages of development, are constantly experimenting with different business models, revenue sources, and methods of developing their customer base, and have not yet established substantial revenue streams. ...

In determining the royalty rate and methodology that willing buyers in the marketplace would accept, the CARP focused on a single license agreement which was negotiated between Yahoo! and the RIAA. ... the CARP's emphasis on a single agreement which was negotiated by an atypical webcaster was arbitrary and erroneous.

Re:There's plenty of free content out there...

[jandrese]

The problem is finding it. Most bands are unbelievably obscure, and their material is not easy to find. Worse, when you find some material you have to research it a lot to discover if it's truely free or if you will become an evildoer pirate by downloading it (this is frequently not clear, sometimes the bands don't even realize that they aren't allowed to put their music online because they didn't read that contract they signed 5 years ago that's doing nothing for them).

Unless you like Gregorian Chants don't expect much must to enter the public domain for a long long time. Your local lobbyist will make sure of that.