The following article helps show that us here at Indieliferadio.com and Wildliferadio.com are on the right path. With the shallow playlist and endless commercials of FM radio...and the high cost of subscriptions and insane overhead to operate satellite radio...and the fact that wireless internet access is spreading everywhere and everyday devices such as cell phones and even cars are being made internet capable...internet radio is the future of broadcasting.
SoundExchange says that Internet radio business has continued to grow, even with the institution of new royalty rates from the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB). While many claimed the increased rates would hurt webcasters and drive them out of business, SoundExchange claims that has not been the case.
"Clearly, Internet radio has become the place to be for music broadcasters," said John Simson, Executive Director of SoundExchange. "While there still are few who are loudly predicting the demise of Internet radio à la the boy who cried wolf, the on-the-ground reality is saying something quite different. There is a lot of money to be made in Internet radio and royalty rates are not a barrier to developing strong, workable business models."
Simson adds, "What we are seeing in the reporting of playlists is that the diversity of music played is widening. Anybody can play the top hits, but on the Internet where listeners aren’t hemmed in by geography or a limited number of stations, to become a go-to site for music you’ve got to give the listener a different or specialized experience. Because of that, we’re seeing a lot of diversity."
