RealNetworks, for example, offers over 400,000 channels through its Rhapsody music service and so could be forced to pay an annual fee of $200 million. The letter explains how SoundExchange does not necessarily plan to distribute these administrative fees to artists, and has provided no explanation of how the fees are used.
The letter also points out that the fee was capped at $2,500 per webcaster until 2005, but the new rules have no cap at all. When Ars Technica spoke to Internet radio provider Live365 a month ago, it discovered that Live365 handles all of its station administration and licensing itself and merely submits reports to SoundExchange "as a single service." So why does SoundExchange need $500 per channel for administration when licensing and administrative services are already largely handled by Internet radio providers?
Source:
Ars Technica
Written by: James Delahunty @ 9 Jun 2007 6:08