It may be time to dust off the old FM radio that's been collecting dust the past few years.The U.S. Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has endorsed a plan by SoundExchange, the royalty-collections division of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), to retroactively raise the fees Internet radio broadcasters must pay to broadcast their music.
The royalty increases are so high that many Web-based radio stations will have to go out of business or dramatically increase advertising to cover the royalty fees.
"It's the end of Internet radio as we know it," one broadcaster fumed. "The RIAA wants to put us all out of business."
The article reports that some Internet radio stations have started to shut down as a result of this.
