Internet Streaming is NOT Radio!

[H82BL8]

Internet only streaming companies are perpetuating a fraud against the American public by using the term "radio" to describe what they do. They even falsify the use of call signs and FM in their names. You can’t use the term, “.inc” in your company name if you are not a corporation. Why can you use call signs and FM if you’re not an FM broadcaster?

I have encountered a lot of 20-somethings lately that think "radio" means "internet" and it devalues the technology of radio, because anyone can start streaming music for a few hundred bucks without a license, FCC approval, regulatory compliance, training or infrastructure.

For the last ten years, Internet streaming companies have stolen intellectual property first, then got held for ransom on the other end of the negotiation agreeing to usurious licensing and royalty rates so they didn't get sued out of existence. They funnel all of their unearned VC funding over to the major labels and then have the audacity to demand that radio broadcasters must pay the same performance royalties that they inflicted upon themselves by virtue of their “take first and ask for forgiveness later” business models.

How about enacting legislation that requires Internet only streaming companies to comply with the same licensing requirements that radio stations have to comply with? How about enacting legislation that prevents Internet only streaming companies from sharing network resources? How about obtaining FCC approval for licensing? How about enacting decency standards?

Is NAB ever going to flex some muscle and press any of these issues, or are they just going to roll over for the Internet industry?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Internet only streaming companies are perpetuating a fraud against the American public by using the term "radio" to describe what they do. They even falsify the use of call signs and FM in their names.

As Yogi Berra once said: "It's deja-vu all over again."

We just had this very same conversation in "Community Radio". We had a different beginning place which set a different tone for that conversation, so.... let-er-rip!

My wife and I grabbed a quick sandwich at the Sonic Drive-in at lunchtime today. Coming out of the little menu-box/intercom device was a DJ doing Sonic Radio. Is that radio?

Got in a friends car and heard the sounds of Sirius/XM Radio. Is that radio?

Does some one own a trade mark for "radio"? If so, are they willing to pony up the coin to protect the intellectual property rights?

If I own a daytime only AM station and I stream the sounds, I would use the term radio during the daytime hours when my transmitter is running. If I keep on grinding out sound during the evening hours which can only be heard on the Internet, am in error to continue announcing myself as "radio"?

I've been following the efforts of Jerry Del Colliano who is tutoring some ex-broadcast personalities to take their image and good name to the podcasting world with a download-able audio product.... (not available via streaming.) Is this radio? They used to be on radio. They want to be on radio but the folks who own the licenses and call letters told them to hit the road. They do what they used to do, but it doesn't get splattered against the sky via some kind of antenna. Some of these people were real radio for years and years. To use a religious term: Did they lose their salvation?

This may be a delightful discussion.

 

[DudeFan]

For Diary and PPM measurement credit, all audio delivery channels, whether FM/AM/Satellite or Internet are considered "radio."

 

[Roger That]

This whole thread makes me sad for the state of radio. H82BL8, exactly when do you become a "Diplomat for Change?" This thread seems to be the complete opposite of that.

"Quick...let's destroy it so we don't have to compete against it and actually work anymore."

 

[KeithE4]

If one is broadcasting audio to the general public, it's "radio." That term is now a common definition for aural broadcasting of all kinds.

When I listen to a radio station **oops, I mean "Internet Stream"** online on my laptop or netbook, it is using "radio" since they are connected via WiFi to my cable modem. My router is wireless, so by definition, it uses radio, if only for a few feet. It does contain a radio transmitter even though it doesn't use the 540-1700 kHz or 88-108 MHz bands.

BTW, when was the last time you "dialed" a "telephone?" Probably many years ago, like at least 20 or more. Not only has there not been a dial on a telephone for many years (and never on a cellphone), but you might have been talking on either a cellphone, a digital keyset (if using a PBX or similar phone system at work), or an endpoint if using VoIP, as well as an old-fashioned analog phone with a DTMF keypad. Rotary dials went away many years ago, although we still say that we "dial a number."

A "telephone," as defined originally, is an analog device that is connected via twisted pair to the Public Switched Telephone Network (that's "Qwest," "Verizon," or other similar company, for those of you in Rio Linda). Technically, cellphones, digital keysets, and VoIP endpoints aren't "telephones" by the old-fashioned definition.

Guess what: If it works like a telephone, most people will call it a telephone, even if the technical details are different. If one is broadcasting sounds to the public, regardless if it's via AM, FM, satellite, spark gap, or over the internet, wired or wireless, it's "radio" by today's standards.

And that's what the public will call it.

 

[radioboy]

I've been following the efforts of Jerry Del Colliano who is tutoring some ex-broadcast personalities to take their image and good name to the podcasting world with a download-able audio product.... (not available via streaming.) Is this radio? They used to be on radio. They want to be on radio but the folks who own the licenses and call letters told them to hit the road. They do what they used to do, but it doesn't get splattered against the sky via some kind of antenna. Some of these people were real radio for years and years. To use a religious term: Did they lose their salvation?

This may be a delightful discussion.

There are now THOUSANDS of us who fit into the ex-broadcast personality category. In my case, I had 24 years in radio, including as an ops manager, before being sent to the beach. Then..there was NOWHERE to go. Still isn't, at least in radio.

The average person can no longer obtain a license for a terrestrial station. The process is too cumbersome and expensive.

I believe the ability to "provide content" across multiple patforms will be the norm shortly. Whether we call it radio or not is not really even relevant.

Incidentally, I believe I'm the one that brought up "licensed legitimacy" on the Community Radio board.

I decided Internet streaming was legitimate enough. Here's the equation I used:

LOCAL AM STATION LMA: $5000 a month plus $1300/month tower rent plus utilities = $7000+ in expenses

INTERNET STREAM streaming fees, music licensing/royalties = $147/month plus about $100/month for DSL = $250 month in expenses

If the local community doesn't believe that's legitimate enough, they are free to donate a station to us. Seriously.

 

[audioguy]

For many of us, the programming we want is no longer on the "radio"-- but it lives on, on the Internet!

Is HD Radio "High Definition"? NO, but Cris Alexander apparently thinks so.

Is Internet Radio "radio"? NO, but will it matter when most of your audience has left and is listening online?

I'm currently listening to "lite favorites.com". There's nothing like that on MY "radio"!

To each his/her own...

 

[H82BL8]

Every Internet only streaming company that is being forced out of business because of the high cost of performance royalties is crying to the legislature about parity in terrestrial radio. Internet only streaming companies are whining that the playing field is not level.

Well, if they want parity and a level playing field then I say give them parity. If they are broadcasting then they should be required to be licensed and pay the fee. If they are broadcasting then they should be required to comply with FCC regulations or be fined.

Parity is not a one way street!

 

[audioguy]

For technical reasons, the broadcast industry has enjoyed a monopoly over the use of the public airwaves for decades. In the early days of radio, the industry was responsive to the public interest. Back then, radio was "a welcome guest" in our homes. (And yes, I do remember that era).

For many reasons, our government policymakers have allowed control to become concentrated in the hands of a few. The public is not being served by an industry that only thinks about move-ins and battling for "ratings". Any way that you want to look at it, the quality of our broadcasting service has deteriorated to the lowest common denominator. Terrible programming, massive interference, lousy audio quality, and a lack of diversity are just a few of the issues. We are being served a diet of leftovers and garbage scraps. You can't run a great democracy on that.

Now along comes the Internet, with the power to level the playing field and make it possible for literally anyone to have a voice. Like the Berlin wall, the artificial barriers to entry that kept competition out and forced the price of a license into the stratosphere will have to come down. Why would the old cronies of the Industry dislike that? I can't imagine.

Traditional radio is welcome on the Internet, and in fact enlightened broadcasters are already there. Take a seat alongside, rather than in front of, the rest of us that you have successfully kept at bay all these years. Let's see what happens when content becomes more important than who owns what.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Preach On, Brother!

 

[Gatekeeper007]

Internet streaming is another form of communications just like broadcast radio is not TV. In this day of lets confuse the he** out the general public and blur everything so we can get them to believe and do what we want no matter what the cost, I don't find it a bit suprising that internet streaming hasn't been given it own title with which to relate to and has latched on to an established title like radio. The word radio comes from radating a signal which applys to open air not down a wire or fiberoptic line. Give it it's own title call it netocasting or neto for short then the general public will know what the difference is maybe.

 

[audioguy]

Perhaps, then, you could explain why Ibiquity chose the name "HD" for their digital radio system? Could it possibly be to cash in on the public's association of the term "HD" with "High Definition", as in HDTV? Hmm? Look on the Crawford Broadcasting Engineering web page and you will discover that they use the term "High Definition" in reference to HD radio!

 

[Roger That]

Perhaps, then, you could explain why Ibiquity chose the name "HD" for their digital radio system? Could it possibly be to cash in on the public's association of the term "HD" with "High Definition", as in HDTV? Hmm? Look on the Crawford Broadcasting Engineering web page and you will discover that they use the term "High Definition" in reference to HD radio!

I'm sure that's exactly why they did it, yes.

The future isn't going to be about terrestrial radio, or internet radio, or whatever. Particularly, by those kinds of definitions. The future is going to be about listeners (or more accurately, users) getting what they want, when they want it, regardless of the medium. Just look at how much easier it is to get a large portion of this content on your cell phone vs even 3 years ago.

The only way ANY of these mediums will survive if they can fit into that model, because it's going in that direction no matter how hard you fight it.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Somebody still has to provide content. If you have content that is meaningful, and easily obtainable, you have a product that you can sell. Radio has established a niche as an aggregator of music and information. Yes, you can get it all elsewhere, but not as easily, not as focused, and not as localized as radio.

The delivery medium will vary depending on economic and social factors, and population density. Tried to get a cell phone stream outside of a major metro lately - out of sight of an interstate highway? How about the problems with G3 phones in NYC?

There's a reason for both "broadcasting" and "narrowcasting" to exist. The trick is to choose the technology that fits your product - or produce programming to fit the technology.

 

[gr8oldies]

Actually means "Hybrid Digital".

 

[Roger That]

Somebody still has to provide content. If you have content that is meaningful, and easily obtainable, you have a product that you can sell.

Totally agree. The cell phone example was only one. My point is that it should be a race to being the provider of superior content, not worried about protecting the medium. Great content should be the goal. The delivery/distribution method of terrestrial radio will be protected in the process.

 

[Skynet74]

Thank God for internet Radio. Terrestrial Radio has become a generic, uncreative, voicetracked Monopoly. Technology has finally paved the way for something that sounds REAL again. I have an audio cable running from my computer into my stereo system and I've never been happier!

 

[gr8oldies]

So where exactly are these creative personalities on internet radio?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Thank God for internet Radio. Terrestrial Radio has become a generic, uncreative, voicetracked Monopoly. Technology has finally paved the way for something that sounds REAL again. I have an audio cable running from my computer into my stereo system and I've never been happier!

That's a really great solution..... if, IF you are a professional couch potato, always within the coverage area of your stereo system.

I would adopt your system... but: what do I do when I go out to work on my landscaping.... take a walk through my neighborhood.... get into the car to drive to town (10 miles away for me)... while at work for an employers who does not permit streaming via the corporate network? How do I use your solution while commuting? When I go camping? While driving my tractor through the cotton field?

 

[SirRoxalot]

That's a really great solution..... if, IF you are a professional couch potato, always within the coverage area of your stereo system.

I would adopt your system... but: what do I do when I go out to work on my landscaping.... take a walk through my neighborhood.... get into the car to drive to town (10 miles away for me)... while at work for an employers who does not permit streaming via the corporate network? How do I use your solution while commuting? When I go camping? While driving my tractor through the cotton field?

Air Card. If you've got cell coverage, you've got Internet radio. BTW, you might be SHOCKED at how many people have Internet while driving their tractor through the cotton field, corn field, or wheat field.