Never thought I'd see this

😱 totally.shocked.

Download Squad wrote:New royalty rates affecting online radio stations are set to take effect Sunday. But SoundExchange, the group responsible for collecting those royalties now says it will not enforce the new rates.

The news came out of a Congressional hearing on Thursday, and follows months of heated discussions. Webcasters say the new rates are high enough to put almost every internet radio station out of business. A coalition of webcasters held a day of silence protest last month, and Congress is considering legislation that would change the way rates are calculated.

SoundExchange says it will not enforce the new fees until a new agreement can be reached that would let stations like Pandora, Last.fm, and Radio Paradise remain on the air.

Holy Cow Batman!

So, all of this has been a bunch of postering, political bullshit? Gee, great.....

Looks like we will remain on the air.... Now that is out of the way, we need to rework station/site promotions.

Shenanigans!

It's a ploy. "OK, gee, it's not a big deal after all." People relax. then six months, a year from now, they drop the hammer. If it's something they're ALLOWED to do it will always be a danger, because, when it suits them, they WILL do it.

I wonder.... Does this mean they blinked?

I get the impression that they wanted to use this as a way to negotiate some tougher back door agreements. See, that's something you didn't hear about. These rates apply across the board, except where Sound Exchange and the broadcasters agreed to a different rate.

In other words, the big boys could get a sweeter deal by going direct. By having the rates so high, it gave them more negotiating room. I get the impression that everyone is so fed up with them, that the didn't even want to do a behind the scenes deal. I could be wrong of course......

I do agree with you Doc. It could be a ploy to get everyone to drop their guard and to back off the political pressure. Then, once everyone has forgotten, they drop the hammer.....