Internet radio: Difference between revisions

[[File:Selbstfahrerstudio-modern.jpg|thumb|An Internet radio studio]]

 

 

Internet radio is generally used to communicate and easily spread messages through the form of talk. It is distributed through a wireless communication network connected to a switch packet network (the internet) via a disclosed source.<ref>{{Cite patent|title=Internet radio communication system|pubdate=July 9, 2002|url=http://www.google.com/patents/US6418138|inventor-last=Cerf|inventor2-last=Huddle|inventor-first=Vinton|inventor2-first=Scott|country=US|number=6418138}}</ref>

 

==Internet radio technology==

 

Internet radio is also suited to listeners with special interests, allowing users to pick from a multitude of different stations and genres less commonly represented on traditional radio.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sanghoon|first=Jun|date=Spring 2013|title=SmartRadio: Cloning Internet Radio Broadcasting Stations|journal=International Information Institute (Tokyo). Information|volume=16|pages=2701–2709|via=School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University}}</ref>

===Listening===

[[File:A Kerbango.jpg|thumbnail|An early [[Kerbango]] [[Internet radio receiver]]]]

 

===Streaming===

As Internet-radio listening rose among the 13-to-35 age group, listening to AM/FM radio, which now accounts for 24 percent of music-listening time, declined 2 percentage points. In the 36-and-older age group, by contrast, Internet radio accounted for just 13 percent of music listening, while AM/FM radio dominated listening methods with a 41 percent share.<ref name="npd.com"/>

 

 

== Broadcasting freedoms ==

 

==History==

 

In 1995, Scott Bourne founded NetRadio.com as the world's first Internet-only radio network. NetRadio.com was a pioneer in Internet radio. It was the first Internet-only network to be licensed by ASCAP. NetRadio eventually went on to an IPO in October 1999. Most of the current Internet radio providers followed the path that NetRadio.com carved out in digital media.

| author = Adam Bowie

| publisher = One Golden Square

| date = September 26, 2008

| url = http://onegoldensquare.com/2008/09/a-brief-history-of-virgin-radio-by-adam-bowie/

| title = An Introduction to Internet Radio

| publisher = European Broadcasting Union (EBU)

| access-date = July 26, 2016}}</ref> On May 1, 1997, [[Radio306.com]] (now [[Pure Rock Radio]]) launched in Saskatoon, Canada. The internet-only station [[purerockradio.net]] celebrated 20 years on air in 2017 as the longest-running Canadian internet station.

 

 

Internet radio attracted significant media and investor attention in the late 1990s. In 1998, the initial public stock offering for [[Broadcast.com]] set a record at the time for the largest jump in price in stock offerings in the United States. The offering price was US$18 and the company's shares opened at US$68 on the first day of trading.<ref name="Broadcast.comInNYTimes">{{cite news

}}</ref> for US$5.7 billion.<ref name="Doc Searls" />

 

| publisher = National Film & Sound Archive

| date = September 20, 2010

| author = National Film & Sound Archive

 

From 2000 onwards, most Internet radio stations increased their stream quality as bandwidth became more economical. Today{{when|date=May 2019}}, most stations stream between 64&nbsp;kbit/s and 128&nbsp;kbit/s providing near CD quality audio.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}} As of 2017 the [[mobile app]] [[Radio Garden]], a research project of the [[Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision]], was streaming approximately 8,000 radio stations to a global audience.<ref name="Radio Garden">{{Cite web |url=http://www.creativeapplications.net/js/radio-garden-radio-in-the-age-of-globalisation-and-digitisation/ |title=Radio Garden – Radio in the age of globalisation and digitisation |last=Visnjic |first=Filip |date=2017-07-09 |website=Creative Applications Network}}</ref>

 

===US royalty controversy===

 

A rancorous dispute ensued over how performance royalties should be assessed for Internet broadcasters.<ref name="LastDays" /><ref name="Doc Searls">[[Doc Searls]], (July 17, 2002) [http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/6218 "Why Are So Many Internet Radio Stations Still on the Air?"] ''[[Linux Journal]]''. Retrieved March 14, 2010.</ref><ref name="Michael Roberts" /><ref name="Collegian" /><ref name="Web North" /><ref name="HiawathaGray"/><ref name="reversal">{{cite news|url=http://news.cnet.com/Lawmakers++propose+reversal+of+Net+radio+fee+increases/2100-1028_3-6179627.html |title=Lawmakers propose reversal of Net radio fee increases |last=Broache |first=Anne |date=April 26, 2007 |publisher=[[CNet News]] |access-date=March 14, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130119221154/http://news.cnet.com/Lawmakers--propose-reversal-of-Net-radio-fee-increases/2100-1028_3-6179627.html |archive-date=January 19, 2013 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Some observers said that royalty rates that were being proposed were overly burdensome and intended to disadvantage independent Internet-only stations<ref name="Michael Roberts" />&mdash;that "while Internet giants like AOL may be able to afford the new rates, many smaller Internet radio stations will have to shut down."<ref name="HiawathaGray">Gray, Hiawatha (March 14, 2007). [http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/03/14/royalty_hike_could_mute_internet_radio/ Royalty hike could mute Internet radio: Smaller stations say rise will be too much], ''[[The Boston Globe]]''.</ref> The Digital Media Association (DiMA) said that even large companies, like Yahoo! Music, might fail due to the proposed rates.<ref name="LastDays">Olga Kharif, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070309122447/http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2007/tc20070307_534338.htm The Last Days of Internet Radio?], March 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.</ref> Some observers said that some U.S.-based Internet broadcasts might be moved to foreign jurisdictions where US royalties do not apply.<ref name="Web North">Michael Geist (April 9, 2007). [https://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/200867 Web radio may stream north to Canada]. ''[[The Toronto Star]]''.</ref>

 

Many of these critics organized SaveNetRadio.org, "a coalition of listeners, artists, labels and webcasters"<ref name="Collegian">{{cite web| url=http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2007/04/26/News/Stagnant.Royalty.Rates.May.Bring.End.To.Internet.Radio-2881008.shtml| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080209025141/http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2007/04/26/News/Stagnant.Royalty.Rates.May.Bring.End.To.Internet.Radio-2881008.shtml | title=Stagnant royalty rates may bring end to Internet radio| publisher=[[The Daily Collegian]]| author= Carlos Militante| work= Spartan Daily (San Jose State U.)| date=April 26, 2007| archive-date=February 9, 2008| access-date=March 14, 2010 }}</ref> that opposed the proposed royalty rates. To focus attention on the consequences of the impending rate hike, many US Internet broadcasters participated in a "Day of Silence" on June 26, 2007. On that day, they shut off their audio streams or streamed ambient sound, sometimes interspersed with brief [[public service announcement]]s voiced, written and produced by popular voiceover artist Dave Solomon.<ref>[http://www.radioprofile.com/savenetradio/ Official SaveNetRadio PSAs & Day Of Silence Network Audio]. ''[[The Toronto Star]]''.</ref> Notable participants included [[Rhapsody (online music service)|Rhapsody]], [[Live365]], [[MTV]], [[Pandora (music service)|Pandora]], [[Digitally Imported]] and [[SHOUTcast]].

 

 

[[SoundExchange]], representing supporters of the increase in royalty rates, pointed out that the rates were flat from 1998 through 2005 (see above), without being increased to reflect cost-of-living increases. They also declared that if Internet radio is to build businesses from the product of recordings, the performers and owners of those recordings should receive fair compensation.

On May 1, 2007, SoundExchange came to an agreement with certain large webcasters regarding the minimum fees that were modified by the determination of the [[Copyright Royalty Board]]. While the CRB decision imposed a $500 per station or channel minimum fee for all webcasters, certain webcasters represented through DiMA negotiated a $50,000 "cap" on those fees with SoundExchange.<ref>{{cite web | title=Webcasters and SoundExchange Shake Hands | work=BusinessWeek.com | author=Olga Kharif | date = August 23, 2007 | access-date=August 24, 2007 | url=http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/08/web_radio_and_m.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016073600/http://businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2007/08/web_radio_and_m.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 16, 2007 }}</ref> However, DiMA and SoundExchange continue to negotiate over the per song, per listener fees.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}

 

 

An August 16, 2008 ''Washington Post'' article reported that although Pandora was "one of the nation's most popular Web radio services, with about 1 million listeners daily...the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse" due to the structuring of performance royalty payment for webcasters. "Traditional radio, by contrast, pays no such fee. Satellite radio pays a fee but at a less onerous rate, at least by some measures." The article indicated that "other Web radio outfits" may be "doomed" for the same reasons.<ref>Peter Whoriskey (August 16, 2008) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/15/AR2008081503367.html Giant Of Internet Nears Its 'Last Stand']. ''[[The Washington Post]]''. Retrieved March 14, 2010.</ref>

 

The Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 expired in January 2016, ending a 10-year period in which smaller online radio stations, [[Live365]] among them, could pay reduced royalties to labels. On January 31, 2016, webcasters who are governed by rules adopted by the Copyright Royalty Board were required to pay to SoundExchange an annual, nonrefundable minimum fee of $500 for each channel and station,<ref>{{cite web | title =2016 Broadcasters Calendar | website = wbklaw.com | publisher =Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP | url =http://www.wbklaw.com/uploads/2016%20Important%20Dates%20for%20Broadcasters.pdf | access-date = 2016-02-01}}</ref> the fee for services with greater than 100 stations or channels being $50,000 annually.<ref>{{cite web | title =commercial webcaster 2016 rates | website =soundexchange.com | publisher =soundexchange | url =http://www.soundexchange.com/service-provider/rates/commercial-webcaster/ | access-date = 2016-02-01}}</ref>

 

==See also==

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*[[Internet radio audience measurement]]

* [[Internet radio device]]

*[[Internet radio licensing]]

*[[Internet talk radio]]

*[[List of Internet radio stations]]

*[[List of streaming media systems]]

*[[Mbone]], experimental "multicast backbone"

 

==Further reading==

 

{{Broadcasting}}