Day of Silence

Some of you probably hope that Monday the 25th of June, the Day of Silence, is the day that I will eventually shut the hell up. I’ve got to disappoint you. The Day of Silence is the day when all the US internet radio stations replace their ordinary programming with public service announcements to wake up their listeners.

In case you’re listening to internet radio and missed it, the RIAA is at it again and has requested that the Copyright Royalty Board increase the royalties paid by internet radio. From SaveInternetRadio.org:

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further. The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed. And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!

19/100 of a penny per song streamed might not sound like much money, but many internet radio station are non-profit and are, to put it bluntly, fucked. This goes for all my favorite stations; Soma FM, Digitally Imported and Radio Wazee. Since I’m not a US citizen, it’s not much I can do except join a mailing list. But if you’re a US citizen, you can make sure that I get my daily fix of excellent music even after July 15.

Act now. Thank you.


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