Getting Static on Internet Radio

摘要

Internet radio sounds like a great idea, especially for those of us whose musical heroes don't march in the Top 40 hit parade. I love the idea of being able to log on to the Web and choose from 10,000 sites "broadcasting" niche music through my computer speakers in every conceivable genre, from Big Band jazz to island reggae. But there are some problems. The one that hit the news last week is the fee structure. Many of these "stations" are geeky mom-and-pop operations that don't charge for their music and don't pay for it either, an arrangement the record labels are trying to rectify by imposing a royalty of fourteen-hundredths of a cent per song per listener. That may not sound like much, but it's enough to drive the small guys out of business. Last Wednesday a few hundred of them tried to draw attention to their plight by going silent for a day.