I say "likely" because they still need to dot i's and cross t's on the royalty deal itself, but here, Congress approved their ability to do that, and just in the nick of time.

Pandora chief Tim Westergren told us today: "We’re just hugely grateful to our listeners and everyone who moved so quickly to mobilize support. This last weekend was just extraordinary." There you go, the world itself may be collapsing, but at least you know our legislators listened to your pleas to keep your favorite web radio broadcasters in business.

DiMA Thanks Congress for Passing Webcaster Settlement Act

Washington, D.C., September 30, 2008 – The U.S. Senate today approved the Webcaster Settlement Act, and sent to the President this bill that authorizes Internet radio services and agents for copyright owners and performers to negotiate new royalty agreements retroactive to 2006, and that could resolve future disputes through 2015.

The House of Representatives passed the bill September 28.

Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of the Digital Media Association, offered this statement:

“On behalf of DiMA and our Internet radio members, I want to thank Congress for acting quickly to pass the Webcaster Settlement Act. This legislation will enable DiMA and our member companies, and all Internet radio services, to continue negotiating royalty rates with SoundExchange for the years 2006-2015. We are very hopeful of reaching agreement soon, and thereby creating long-term stability that will re-energize the Internet radio business.

"We express great thanks to Senators Wyden and Brownback, and Representatives Inslee and Manzullo for sponsoring the Webcaster Settlement Act and also being great leaders of the Internet Radio Equality Act.

“We are also grateful to Chairman Berman, Chairman Conyers and Chairman Leahy, and Ranking Members Smith and Specter for their leadership on the Webcaster Settlement Act and their ongoing support for Internet radio."

[Digital Media Association]

Sure, lately most people including Giz have made Pandora out to be just a victim of the dreaded Copyright Royalty Board. But clearly the Pandora's people have been doing more than just calling congressmen and woeing their own demise. Here's the whole basket of new Pandora goodies:

• Starting now, five Sprint phones will be Pandora ready, and by the end of June, Pandora says that all Power Vision phones will be good to go. If you have a Pandora.com account, you will get "seamless integration" into your phone. Besides, you will be able to create and fine-tune stations using just the phone. After a 30-day free trial, the ad-free Sprint Pandora service will cost $2.99 per month. Keep in mind, there'd be a Sprint data-service requirement of at least $15 per month on top of that, and there's no word of how good the streaming quality is, but if you already pay for Power Vision, it's probably worth a try. Below are shots of Pandora on the defunct Samsung A900; our opening shot is of the Pandora interface on the new music phone, the UpStage.

• Sonos 2.2 software release, free to all Sonos owners and immediately available, will include a 30-day free trial of Pandora, with a given station streaming simultaneously and in perfect sync to all of your rooms, or up to 32 different Pandora stations streamed to 32 different receivers at the same time. Like the Rhapsody service offered for Sonos, the 30-day trial doesn't require a credit card; unlike Rhapsody, Pandora will cost only $36 for a full-year subscription. (You can't do as much, of course, and some people will probably want both, but it's an interesting option.)

• New Web interface, totally redesigned for "better integration of content and community." Rather than describe it, I'll just toss it in here:

• The final point of Pandora's presentation involves future applications. Wi-Fi-connected players are an obvious point. No, there is no Zune creeping into the picture (yet), but there might be a different Connect-ion: the presentation says that Pandora is showing off a Zing-enabled device. Well, the Sansa Connect is the only one of those we can think of off-hand so, like, sweet! – Wilson Rothman

Product Page [Pandora]

"Congress is calling this the grassroots campaign of the year," he says. "Office staffers say they have never received this many emails and inquiries on any issue in their congressional careers. The whole fax infrastructure of Capitol Hill was jammed for two days." (Ah, those crazy faxers.) If any of you doubts your ability to make a difference in DC, by all means keep reading.

Westergren says that the groundswell is really evidence, like the Digg riot of 2007, that people are more in control of messages thanks to the Web. "Information is becoming decentralized—now people are getting to participate. You can't mess around anymore with consumers or artists—they've got a huge megaphone. This is really the power of the people here. But this kind of power needs to be thoughtfully wielded."

I asked Westergren what it was like to find support from such unlikely allies as arch-conservative Sam Brownback. Although I assumed the cause was relatively liberal, Westergren says you can't pigeonhole net radio that way. "There's no correlation," he says. "This is not a partisan issue."

Unless something changes, July 15 will be the day that webcasters are presented a bill covering all of owed royalties dating back to the beginning of 2006, calculated using the current, oppressive rates. "Starting then," he says, "every webcaster is bankrupt, except for a couple."

The only answer, says Westergren, will come from the Capitol. "We are 100% focused on bill passage. Call your congressman or senator and ask them to support these bills. Bug them until they do it." He adds, "We're not a well-moneyed lobby, we're a young industry. There's no K Street presence here."

Well, what are you waiting for? Get to them faxes!! You may even try one of these newfangled systems for communicating with congresspersons—I'm told this "E" mail works pretty good. – Wilson Rothman

Internet Radio Coverage [Gizmodo]

Since the CRB's new rates go into effect on May 15, let's hope that the bill can make its way through Congress more quickly than legislation typically does, so Internet radio broadcasters don't get slammed by the CRB's exorbitant fees. Here's an easy way to get a hold of your representative to tell them to save Internet radio and get the legislative juices flowing. – Matt Buchanan

Bill Could Save Internet Radio [Broadband Reports]
Press Release [House of Representatives]
Image via Flickr

Two misperceptions about Internet radio, according to Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren:

First:

...higher rates mean more money for artists. The reality is that the few Internet radio companies that opt to continue (and it will be VERY FEW) will be forced to license directly from labels. In this scenario, the artist share of the revenue will shrink to almost nothing as the monies will go directly to the label and be subject to the usual artist royalty rate (post-recoupment) of single digit percentages. So not only will this eliminate the vast majority of online stations that are the ONLY source of indie music exposure, it will take what little revenue is left from the artists.

...contrary to any statements by SoundExchange or RIAA representatives, Internet radio is not a highly profitable business nor will it be. For most (including Pandora), it's still a money-loser at the old rates that we are working as hard as we can (15 full time sales people are on the job) to turn profitable in a year or two. The growth figures put out by JP Morgan (recently revised downward from $500M to $150M) don't mean profitability—they mean more revenue which comes with greater costs. It's a thin margin business at best. No one's profiteering here.

For more about this situation, you can visit SaveNetRadio.org. – Wilson Rothman

Copyright Royalty Board [Gizmodo]

Apparently, arguing that the new fees will drive many stations out of business is tired old drivel according to the panel, who said that "most of the parties' arguments in support of a rehearing or reconsideration merely restate arguments that were made or evidence that was presented during the proceeding." No, there's no "manifest injustice" there.

The ruling takes effect May 15, so listen hard to your favorite Internet radio stations, since you may not be able to listen long. – Matt Buchanan

Internet radio dealt severe blow as Copyright Board rejects appeal [Ars Technica]
Image via Flickr