Once again I watch big business and greed close another great resource for music artists is closing its doors. Seems Live365 which has been around for a long time giving us the working class a chance to play dj and radio producer is closing its doors or at least it is on the verge of doing so. The Licensing organizations are mostly the blame with the rate hikes and the removal of small webcaster rates. The majority f those running radio stations on live365 were hobbyists who made little or no kind of profit at broadcasting.  Most of them broadcasted music all out of the love they had for the artists and the music. Not only has live365 taken a hit from the licensing cost increase but so has streamlicensing.com , though at the moment they are in negotiations trying to find a decent rate between them, there is always the possibility there will be no agreement. This will be another blow to the hobbyist and small broadcasters out there. The thing is most broadcasters want to pay their royalties and be legal, most of us want the artists and song writers etc. to receive their fair share. But what makes it hard is many of us are non profit, we don’t charge for the services, don’t promote any products and have no kind of monetary gain. We pay for our servers, the music to play and all other fees out of our pocket. Stations that are like that will probably suffer the most if not close down. Of course there is the creative commons licensed music option, which is one I myself will take if it comes down to it. Many great musicians release creative commons licensed music and its legal to broadcast most as long as you don’t do any paid advertisements on the station of the page. Can not make money in any way that is connected to the station if you do the CC licensed route. Well you can if you get a license from the artists or places such as Jamendo.com. Which is always an alternative if you make money via your station but can not afford the new rates.

I wish the Licensing organizations would see how much money they will lose if they force all of us small and hobbyist radio stations off line or to play CC licensed. Small Fries always have the hardest road to follow in the world of business and entertainment.

 

Ray Barbier

Radio licensing price hikes and the negative impact. was originally published on RJB Networks