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Is that hobby Internet radio station worth $500 a year out of your pocket?

And that is Non-Commercial.It appears that The Small Webcaster License that was $2,000 Annually and Operated under the $1.25 M Cap in Gross Revenue and 5 Million ATH CAP Per Month (Before the Performance Fee Kicked In) is being replaced by a flat Performance Fee which if that is the case say goodbye to the #1 and #2 Country Stations on Live 365 and likely the Top Stations in every other format on LIVE 365.
 
JPlainJohn said:
And that is Non-Commercial.It appears that The Small Webcaster License that was $2,000 Annually and Operated under the $1.25 M Cap in Gross Revenue and 5 Million ATH CAP Per Month (Before the Performance Fee Kicked In) is being replaced by a flat Performance Fee which if that is the case say goodbye to the #1 and #2 Country Stations on Live 365 and likely the Top Stations in every other format on LIVE 365.
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And that's just the webcasters using Live365. The ones who are doing it independently are going to drop faster.

Sure, $500 a year is $40 a month broken down, but I suspect even that amount may be too much for some to handle, especially if it has to be paid upfront and not month to month.
 
We have looked at options and will be staying with a Live365 Pro Package but since the "Free Listening Hours" are so pitifully almost non-existent we are going to be forced into a SUBSCRIPTION MODEL. Live 365 already has what is called "VIP" and is available for $5.95/monthly or $59.88 Annually and can be used to listen to ALL Live365 Webcasts,Many Ad-Free.Under the current structure we will no longer be able to offer a FREE Web Cast (The VIP Listening Hours do not count against our very limited number of Standard Broadcast Hours) My Station is http://www.98FROGFM.COM
 
K.M. Richards said:
And that's just the webcasters using Live365. The ones who are doing it independently are going to drop faster.

Sure, $500 a year is $40 a month broken down, but I suspect even that amount may be too much for some to handle, especially if it has to be paid upfront and not month to month.
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Agreed-This is modeled to support Over The Air Radio That Streams and to do away with as many small indy webcasts as possible.
 
I don't see how these new rates are sustainable for any non-subscription service. $0.0017 is just too high. Even for large companies. Pandora can make claims about how the new rate is great but it looks to just be an attempt to ease shareholders. The new rate will add by some estimates as much as $100 million to their royalty bill in 2016 and they are already losing money despite a heavily increased ad load.


I look for more streaming to move overseas as well as non-compliance when it comes to paying the necessary amount of royalties.
 
Casey said:
I look for more streaming to move overseas as well as non-compliance when it comes to paying the necessary amount of royalties.
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You can say that all you want, but the reality is that most overseas operations with the ability to deliver a robust stream to the U.S. likely has international agreements to honor copyright laws and the like, and would comply with any request made by SoundExchange to shut down a stream which didn't pay its royalties.

As far as simple non-compliance, shutdown can happen even faster if SoundExchange goes to the ISP hosting the stream with a legal cease-and-desist order.

I am thinking of a seven-letter word which begins with "S-C-R" and ends with "E-D".
 
K.M. Richards said:
You can say that all you want, but the reality is that most overseas operations with the ability to deliver a robust stream to the U.S. likely has international agreements to honor copyright laws and the like, and would comply with any request made by SoundExchange to shut down a stream which didn't pay its royalties.

As far as simple non-compliance, shutdown can happen even faster if SoundExchange goes to the ISP hosting the stream with a legal cease-and-desist order.

I am thinking of a seven-letter word which begins with "S-C-R" and ends with "E-D".
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By non-compliance I don't mean not paying anything at all. Rather just not reporting all streams. This is more common than you would think and likely to become more common.
 
TheBigA said:
The internet version of pirate radio.
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It's been how many years and still all the lawsuits and cease-and-desists have failed to shut down many of the video streamers that retransmit just about every important -- and unimportant -- sporting event in the world yearround. Most of the longstanding ones are based in Eastern Europe and Asia. (One -- Coolsport, a favorite of soccer fans -- was hiding in plain sight in Manchester, England, of all places, and was finally busted last year.) If the governments of those places show no interest in cooperating with demands from other countries to go after those streamers, who are streaming much more valuable properties than dusty recordings of oldies or jazz, what makes anyone think they'll do anything but laugh at the USA and its corporate interests when it comes to Internet radio streamers?
 
CTListener said:
If the governments of those places show no interest in cooperating with demands from other countries to go after those streamers, who are streaming much more valuable properties than dusty recordings of oldies or jazz, what makes anyone think they'll do anything but laugh at the USA and its corporate interests when it comes to Internet radio streamers?
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The difference will be in the level of determination by the music industry lawyers vs. the sports industry lawyers about it. I make no hard predictions, just mention possibilities ... and I think a large number of streams will disappear because they are not operated by registered non-profit organizations and the owners don't have the techie know-how to go overseas for hosting. Just an educated guess.
 
Casey said:
GeoX said:
A contact tells me Live365 has laid everyone off and its future is uncertain.
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That does seem to be the rumor going around. I have yet to hear anything official though.
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Are you sure you're not confusing them with Rdio, which shuts down today? I passed the rumor to the news desk at AllAccess and they still haven't been able to confirm that anything is happening at Live365.
 
I have heard it mentioned several times. But with every hour that passes without any official press releases it seems increasingly unlikely. But then again I have not heard anything out of them since Friday. So who knows.
 
As of today, Live365 is still in business. They have said all the personal broadcasting plans as well as the X5000 plan will expire at 11:59 PM on December 31st. Personal stations and all current X5000 stations will be changed to VIP only on January 1st. Only the Pro plans will remain unchanged and the layoffs rumor is unsubstantiated at this time.

R
 
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Robert Bass said:
As of today, Live365 is still in business. They have said all the personal broadcasting plans as well as the X5000 plan will expire at 11:59 PM on December 31st. Personal stations and all current X5000 stations will be changed to VIP only on January 1st. Only the Pro plans will remain unchanged and the layoffs rumor is unsubstantiated at this time.
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Thanks for keeping an eye on that, Robert. That's still going to be a ton of streams going missing on Friday.

I'm bracing myself for the expected flurry of online postings crying unfairly about their favorite stream that had the (insert name of no-longer viable for terrestrial radio format) music on it. Already one of the best known Smooth Jazz streams has announced it's going silent at the end of the day Thursday ...
 
(A repost here...) My new sig says it all. It just isn't worth the risk. Subcription model probably won't be viable for a niche product with minimal listeners, about 4000 listener hours/mo. Nor will ad insertion.
 
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