Intro to Radio InfoWeb on Live365 – 101

Most of our listeners aren’t on Live365. Why do we persist there? One reason is historical; there was a time when it was our only option due to the dynamics of Internet Broadcasting at the time. Another is that Live365 is an audience unto itself. Live365 attracts listeners we don’t attract elsewhere.

Live365 is a pain in the butt. It forces us to accept ads. It forces use to comply with rigid requirements that aren’t compatible with our (lack of) “format”.

As a result, our Live365 stream sounds different. It sounds very much like Radio InfoWeb would sound on a commercial FM station. Which has been the case in the past, and is likely to occur again in the future. In fact, if you’d like your local FM station to carry our programming all the time, or, more likely, some of the time (in the past Radio InfoWeb was used to fill up time the station couldn’t), have them contact us!

On Live365, Radio InfoWeb sounds a bit softer and not quite as sonically cohesive, both because of those ads, and due to the pressure the music industry exerts on Live365. Live365 presents strong disincentives to play music that’s not licensed by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, RIAA, etc.

The Live365 stream is lower-bandwidth at 64K, so it’s lower fidelity but more compatible with the variety of devices Live365 supports, and the Internet connections they’re likely to have.

An finally, if none of the other reasons for our stream have touched you yet… it’s an alternative. If you don’t like what’s on the main stream, you can always tune into Live365 for something a bit different.

PS – Those commercials benefit us this much: ZERO — Live365 claims it helps support THEM — but we all know this simply means Live365 is totally in the thrall of “big music”… and funneling the money (and the mother lode of personal and music listening info) thataway.

 

The Never Ending Assault on Internet Radio

I received the email quoted below today. It’s from Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora. No, I’m not special; if you have an account with Pandora, you probably got one of these too.

To me the letter pointed out that the war with the greedy lawyers at ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, RIAA, etc. is not over for Internet Broadcasters. Like government, there is no limit to how far these guys will go to exercise their greed. Wait, they write the laws and hand them over to the politicians to be enacted, so they’re worse! I’ll stop my rant now, and explain how those guys are not only greedy, but thieves, in a future blog either here or over at latchfordfactor.com…

For now, I’d just like to repost the email as a reminder, in case you ignored it in your inbox. What Tim is complaining about affects Radio InfoWeb too, as well as all other Internet Broadcasters.

Hi there,

This is Tim, the founder of Pandora.

I am writing to ask for your urgent help. An important piece of legislation has just been introduced in Congress that could end long-standing discrimination against Internet radio. I’m asking that you contact your Senator to urge them to support the Internet Radio Fairness Act.

This bipartisan bill will correct the incredible inequity in how different digital radio formats are treated under the law when it comes to setting royalties. The difference is quite extraordinary. In 2011, Pandora paid over 50% of our revenues in performance royalties, while SiriusXM paid less than 10%.

As a lifelong musician, I’m fully supportive of artist compensation, but this situation can’t continue. Internet radio is bringing millions of listeners back to music, and is playing the songs of tens of thousands of promising artists who would otherwise never be heard. It should be given a fair chance to succeed.

To voice your support for this initiative, please reach out to your Senator today and say you support the Internet Radio Fairness Act, bill number 3609.

Senator: Charles Schumer
Click here to email: http://www.schumer.senate.gov/Contact/contact_chuck.cfm

If you’d like more information about the Internet Radio Fairness Act you can learn more here.

It’s crucial that Congress hears from fans of Internet radio today. Thanks for your support, and thanks for being a loyal listener.
Tim Westergren

Tim Westergren
Founder, Pandora