| Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
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Silence only on June 26th
Posted @ 11:33 PM :: 391 Views ::
0 Comments :: Top 40
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By Andrew Baker and Barbara Danahy
If you enjoy Internet radio, including our stations here at YouthRoots.com, you should know that there is a very real danger that most stations will be silenced.
Legislation has been enacted by the U.S. Congress to drastically increase royalty rates for Internet radio providers. The rates, scheduled to increase on July 15th (retroactive to January 1st, 2006), will almost certainly put an end to most Internet radio stations.
The Internet Radio Equality Act has been introduced to counter this increase and Internet sites like SaveNetRadio.org are encouraging Internet radio listeners to call and write their legislators in Congress to ask them to co-sponsor and support this bill.
The Day of Silence will show Internet radio listeners what the silence will sound like soon after July 15th, 2007. Hopefully with only a few weeks to go until this date, the silence on June 26th will convince listeners to finally contact their representatives in Congress.
Independent music is a large part of YouthRoots Radio. This type of music is rarely heard on most commercial radio stations and without Internet radio, independent artists will have an even more difficult time getting their music heard. Through Live365, YouthRoots pays royalty and licensing fees (from SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) to independent and contract artists.
So, if you tune in to YouthRoots radio on June 26, instead of music, you will hear some information about the issue and then nothing but the sounds of silence. At that point, if you haven't already done so, we hope you will visit SaveNetRadio.org and using their site tools, contact your legislator, otherwise silence may be the only thing you will hear on Net radio for years to come. |
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