Good News for Internet Radio

I listen to a LOT of internet radio. At work, I listen to a "Steve Roach" (ambient/drone) station on Pandora, in a feeble attempt to keep my stress levels down. At home, I listen to the "Drone Zone" on Soma FM while paying bills (for the same reason). And Robyn and I have recently started listening to the live stream from AM 1710 out of Antioch Illinois (old timey radio drama) at night as we go to sleep.

For several years now, there's been a struggle between internet radio stations and record labels. The point of contention has been what constitutes reasonable per-song royalty rates that the labels could require for sites providing streaming music. For a while, it looked as if the rates would be so high as to force stations like Pandora and Soma out of business.

According to a recent article in New York Times, though, the record labels and online music services have reached an agreement that will allow sites like Pandora and Some to stay in business, while providing the copyright holders with some compensation for their music.

There seems to be some question as to whether or not this agreement will remain in place; but if it does I think it will turn out to be a good thing for the labels. More and more, streaming music services are replacing commercial radio stations as the place for listeners to discover new music.