New Royalty Rates Announced for Webcasters

From Kurthanson.com: "The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates...adopting the 'per play' rate proposal...the rates that the Board has decided on, effective retroactively through the beginning of 2006."

"The minimum fee is $500 per channel per year. There is no clear definition of what a 'channel' is for services that make up individualized playlists for listeners."

"Because a typical Internet radio station plays about 16 songs an hour, that's a royalty Kurt Hansonobligation in 2006 of about 1.28 cents per listener-hour." Full article with proposed royalty rates through 2010.

More: How To Create Your Own Streaming Internet Radio Station

Ouch! XM Canada to Raise Rates
From orbitcast.com: "XM Radio Online (XMRO) is currently a free service provided to both XM Canada and the US version of XM Satellite Radio. But starting on September 1st of this year, XMRO will cost new subscribers an additional $9.99 (Canadian) per month. Existing subscribers will start off by paying $1 extra a month in September and the full $9.99 per month in September of 2008...XM Canada customers who used to pay $12.99/month, will be paying a whopping...$22.98/month for essentially the same service."

What Happened On This Day in Radio History: March 5