Saturday 12 June 2010

IMPORTANT - US Music Licensing Law

It has come to our attention that some radio stations on KryKey Internet Radio have been playing music that they do not own which we have been informed does not conform with US law.

We have asked all radio stations based in the US to stop and remove any music they do own or have permission to broadcast immediately. Licensing law in the US for web based radio stations is unlike those for "free-to-air" radio stations we have been informed, and as such a fee is required each time a song is played to each listener.

As KryKey Internet Radio does not currently have any incoming revenue, these fees would have to be paid by the radio station owner. When the advertising system is installed in KryKey in the next couple of weeks, this arrangement may change as KryKey will be able to pay these fees.

US based radio stations that play music that they produce or have permission to play have no problems with the US music licensing law. An example of a US based radio station that complies with this law is DSL Radio, and they are a Studio in New York that plays the music they produce and that of independent artists.

Those US located radio stations that as from Monday the 14th of June are found to be playing music that they do not own or have permission to play will be deactivated. US located radio stations on KryKey have until Monday the 14th to comply with this request.

KryKey Internet Radio takes this very seriously and has immediately responded by requests from the licensing group in the US and has sent out emails to all US based radio stations informing them of the situation.

KryKey Internet Radio offers the service to anyone in the world to create and own a web-based radio station and it is up to each individual radio station owners to comply with licensing laws.

US based radio stations make up around 10% of the total of radio stations on KryKey Internet Radio and a large number of these do comply with the US licensing law. Like all services, some people 'abuse' the privilege - and research has found this on many services like SoundCloud, MyRadio, Reverbnation and even You Tube. Like those services KryKey Internet Radio will ask people to comply or leave.

3 comments:

  1. Would this affect any of the stations in Canada?

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    Replies
    1. Yes you need a SOCAN License

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