Internet radio

An Internet radio studio

Internet radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, online radio, webcasting) is an audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted broadly through wireless means.

Internet radio involves streaming media, presenting listeners with a continuous stream of audio that typically cannot be paused or replayed, much like traditional broadcast media; in this respect, it is distinct from on-demand file serving. Internet radio is also distinct from podcasting, which involves downloading rather than streaming.

Internet radio services offer news, sports, talk, and various genres of music—every format that is available on traditional broadcast radio stations. Many Internet radio services are associated with a corresponding traditional (terrestrial) radio station or radio network, although low start-up and ongoing costs have allowed a substantial proliferation of independent Internet-only radio stations.

Internet radio technology

Internet radio services are usually accessible from anywhere in the world with a suitable internet connection available; one could, for example, listen to an Australian station from Europe and America. This has made internet radio particularly suited to and popular among expatriate listeners. Nevertheless, some major networks like CBS Radio, Pandora Radio, and Citadel Broadcasting (except for news/talk and sports stations) in the United States, and Chrysalis in the United Kingdom, restrict listening to in-country due to music licensing and advertising issues.

Internet radio is also suited to listeners with special interests that are often not adequately served by local radio stations.

Listening

An early Kerbango Internet radio receiver

Internet radio is typically listened to on a standard home PC or similar device, through an embedded player program located on the respective station's website. In recent years, dedicated devices that resemble and offer the listener a similar experience to a traditional radio receiver have arrived on the market.

Streaming

Streaming technology is used to distribute Internet radio, typically using a lossy audio codec. Streaming audio formats include MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Windows Media Audio, RealAudio, and HE-AAC (or aacPlus).[1] Audio data is continuously transmitted serially (streamed) over the local network or internet in TCP or UDP packets, then reassembled at the receiver and played a second or two later. The delay is called lag, and is introduced at several stages of digital audio broadcasting.[2]

Simulation

A local tuner simulation program includes all the online radios that can also be heard in the air in the city.

Popularity

In 2003, revenue from online streaming music radio was US$49 million. By 2006, that figure rose to US$500 million.[3] A February 21, 2007 "survey of 3,000 Americans released by consultancy Bridge Ratings & Research" found that "[a]s much as 19% of U.S. consumers 12 and older listen to Web-based radio stations." In other words, there were "some 57 million weekly listeners of Internet radio programs. More people listen to online radio than to satellite radio, high-definition radio, podcasts, or cell-phone-based radio combined."[3][4] An April 2008 Arbitron survey[5] showed that, in the US, more than one in seven persons aged 25–54 years old listen to online radio each week.[6] In 2008, 13 percent of the American population listened to the radio online, compared to 11 percent in 2007. Internet radio functionality is also built into many dedicated Internet radio devices, which give an FM like receiver user experience.

In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2012, Pandora and other subscription-based and free Internet radio services accounted for nearly one quarter (23 percent) of the average weekly music listening time among consumers between the ages of 13 and 35, an increase from a share of 17 percent the previous year.[7]

As Internet-radio listening rose among the 13-to-35 age group, listening to AM/FM radio, which now accounts for 24 percent of music-listening time, declined 2 percentage points. In the 36-and-older age group, by contrast, Internet radio accounted for just 13 percent of music listening, while AM/FM radio dominated listening methods with a 41 percent share.[7]

History

Internet radio was pioneered by Carl Malamud. In 1993, Malamud launched "Internet Talk Radio" which was the "first computer-radio talk show, each week interviewing a computer expert.".[8][9] The first Internet concert was broadcast on June 24, 1993 by the band Severe Tire Damage[10][11]

In November 1994, a Rolling Stones concert was the "first major cyberspace multicast concert." Mick Jagger opened the concert by saying, "I want to say a special welcome to everyone that's, uh, climbed into the Internet tonight and, uh, has got into the M-bone. And I hope it doesn't all collapse."[12]

On November 7, 1994, WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, NC USA) became the first traditional radio station to announce broadcasting on the Internet. WXYC used an FM radio connected to a system at SunSite, later known as Ibiblio, running Cornell's CU-SeeMe software. WXYC had begun test broadcasts and bandwidth testing as early as August 1994.[13] WREK (91.1 FM, Atlanta, GA USA) started streaming on the same day using their own custom software called CyberRadio1. However, unlike WXYC, this was WREK's beta launch and the stream was not advertised until a later date.[14]

In 1995, Progressive Networks released RealAudio as a free download. Time magazine said that RealAudio took "advantage of the latest advances in digital compression" and delivered "AM radio-quality sound in so-called real time."[15] Eventually, companies such as Nullsoft and Microsoft released streaming audio players as free downloads.[16] As the software audio players became available, "many Web-based radio stations began springing up."[16]

In 1995, Scott Bourne founded NetRadio.com as the world's first Internet-only radio network. NetRadio.com was a pioneer in Internet radio. It was the first Internet-only network to be licensed by ASCAP. NetRadio eventually went on to an IPO in October 1999. Most of the current Internet radio providers followed the path that NetRadio.com carved out in digital media. [17]

Scott founded Netradio.NET and it wasn't changed to .com until several years later. The first .com internet-only radio station is HardRadio.com from 12/31/95 and is still in operation. HardRadio was also the first internet station licensed by both ASCAP and BMI. In 1996, Edward Lyman created Sonicwave.com, the first American internet radio station, legally licensed by both ASCAP and BMI, to broadcast live, 24 hours a day on the internet.

In March 1996, Virgin Radio - London, became the first European radio station to broadcast its full program live on the internet.[18] It broadcast its FM signal, live from the source, simultaneously on the Internet 24 hours a day.[19]

Internet radio attracted significant media and investor attention in the late 1990s. In 1998, the initial public stock offering for Broadcast.com set a record at the time for the largest jump in price in stock offerings in the United States. The offering price was US$18 and the company's shares opened at US$68 on the first day of trading.[20] The company was losing money at the time and indicated in a prospectus filed with the Securities Exchange Commission that they expected the losses to continue indefinitely.[20] Yahoo! purchased Broadcast.com on July 20, 1999[21] for US$5.7 billion.[22]

With the advent of streaming RealAudio over HTTP, streaming became more accessible to a number of radio shows. One such show, TechEdge Radio in 1997 was broadcast in 3 formats - live on the radio, live from a RealAudio server and streamed from the web over HTTP.

In 1998, the longest running internet radio show,[23] "The Vinyl Lounge", commenced netcasting from Sydney, Australia, from Australia's first Internet Radio Station, NetFM (www.netfm.net). In 1999, Australian Telco "Telstra" launched The Basement Internet Radio Station but it was later shut down in 2003 as it was not a viable business for the Telco.

From 2000 onwards, most Internet Radio Stations increased their stream quality as bandwidth became more economical. Today, most stations stream between 64 kbit/s and 128 kbit/s providing near CD quality audio.

US royalty controversy

In October 1998, the US Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). One result of the DMCA is that performance royalties are to be paid for satellite radio and Internet radio broadcasts in addition to publishing royalties. In contrast, traditional radio broadcasters pay only publishing royalties and no performance royalties.[24][25]

A rancorous dispute ensued over how performance royalties should be assessed for Internet broadcasters.[3][22][25][26][27][28][29] Some observers said that royalty rates that were being proposed were overly burdensome and intended to disadvantage independent Internet-only stations[25]—that "while Internet giants like AOL may be able to afford the new rates, many smaller Internet radio stations will have to shut down."[28] The Digital Media Association (DiMA) said that even large companies, like Yahoo! Music, might fail due to the proposed rates.[3] Some observers said that some U.S.-based Internet broadcasts might be moved to foreign jurisdictions where US royalties do not apply.[27]

Many of these critics organized SaveNetRadio.org, "a coalition of listeners, artists, labels and webcasters"[26] that opposed the proposed royalty rates. To focus attention on the consequences of the impending rate hike, many US Internet broadcasters participated in a "Day of Silence" on June 26, 2007. On that day, they shut off their audio streams or streamed ambient sound, sometimes interspersed with brief public service announcements voiced, written and produced by popular voiceover artist Dave Solomon.[30] Notable participants included Rhapsody, Live365, MTV, Pandora, Digitally Imported and SHOUTcast.

Some broadcasters did not participate, such as Last.fm, that had just been purchased for US $280 million by CBS Music Group.[31] According to a Last.fm employee, they were unable to participate because participation "may compromise ongoing license negotiations."[32]

SoundExchange, representing supporters of the increase in royalty rates, pointed out the fact that the rates were flat from 1998 through 2005 (see above), without even being increased to reflect cost-of-living increases. They also declared that if internet radio is to build businesses from the product of recordings, the performers and owners of those recordings should receive fair compensation.

On May 1, 2007, SoundExchange came to an agreement with certain large webcasters regarding the minimum fees that were modified by the determination of the Copyright Royalty Board. While the CRB decision imposed a $500 per station or channel minimum fee for all webcasters, certain webcasters represented through DiMA negotiated a $50,000 "cap" on those fees with SoundExchange.[33] However, DiMA and SoundExchange continue to negotiate over the per song, per listener fees.

SoundExchange has also offered alternative rates and terms to certain eligible small webcasters, that allows them to calculate their royalties as a percentage of their revenue or expenses, instead of at a per performance rate.[34] To be eligible, a webcaster had to have revenues of less than US $1.25 million a year and stream less than 5 million "listener hours" a month (or an average of 6830 concurrent listeners).[35] These restrictions would disqualify independent webcasters like AccuRadio, Digitally Imported, Club977 and others from participating in the offer, and therefore many small commercial webcasters continue to negotiate a settlement with SoundExchange.[36]

An August 16, 2008 Washington Post article reported that although Pandora was "one of the nation's most popular Web radio services, with about 1 million listeners daily...the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse" due to the structuring of performance royalty payment for webcasters. "Traditional radio, by contrast, pays no such fee. Satellite radio pays a fee but at a less onerous rate, at least by some measures." The article indicated that "other Web radio outfits" may be "doom[ed]" for the same reasons.[37]

On September 30, 2008, the United States Congress passed "a bill that would put into effect any changes to the royalty rate to which [record labels and web casters] agree while lawmakers are out of session."[38] Although royalty rates are expected to decrease, many webcasters nevertheless predict difficulties generating sufficient revenue to cover their royalty payments.[38]

In January 2009, the US Copyright Royalty Board announced that "it will apply royalties to streaming net services based on revenue."[39] Since then, websites like Pandora Radio, Mog, 8tracks and even recently Google Music have changed the way people discover and listen to music.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hoeg, Wolfgang; Lauterbach, Thomas (2009). Digital audio broadcasting: principles and applications of DAB, DAB+ and DMB. Wiley. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-470-51037-7.
  2. ↑ Hoeg, p 43.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Olga Kharif, The Last Days of Internet Radio?, March 7, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
  4. ↑ The "HD" in "HD radio" actually stands for hybrid digital, not high-definition. It's hybrid because analog and digital signals are broadcast together.
  5. ↑ Joe Lensky; Bill Rose (2008-06-24). "The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio’s Digital Platforms" (PDF). Digital Radio Study 2008. Arbitron and Edison Research.
  6. ↑ "Weekly online radio audience increases from 11 percent to 13 percent of Americans in last year, according to the latest Arbitron/Edison media research study". Arbitron & Edison Research. Red Orbit. April 9, 2008.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Streaming Music is Gaining on Traditional Radio Among Younger Music Listeners by The NPD Group: https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/streaming-music-is-gaining-on-traditional-radio-among-younger-music-listeners/
  8. ↑ "Internet Talk Radio". museum.media.org. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
  9. ↑ "Cable company is set to plug into Internet". The Wall Street Journal. August 24, 1993. Retrieved 2008-03-18.
  10. ↑ Randy Alfred (June 24, 2009). "This day in Tech". Wired. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  11. ↑ Savetz, K., Randall, N., and Lepage, Y., "MBONE: Multicasting Tomorrow's Internet" (in the Musical Events section: "Severe Tire Damage was the first live band on the Internet. On June 24, 1993"), John Wiley, 1996, ISBN 1-56884-723-8
  12. ↑ Peter H. Lewis (February 8, 1995). "Peering Out a 'Real Time' Window". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  13. ↑ WXYC's groundbreaking internet simulcast is now 10 years old November 12, 2004. WXYC Chapel Hill, NC, 89.3 FM.
  14. ↑ We got here first. Sort of. WREK Atlanta, 91.1 FM.
  15. ↑ Josh Quittner (1995-05-01). "Radio Free Cyberspace". Time. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Richard D. Rose (2002-05-08). "Connecting the Dots: Navigating the Laws and Licensing Requirements of the Internet Music Revolution" (PDF). IDEA: The Intellectual Property Law Review. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  17. ↑ NetRadio.com Licensed by ASAP
  18. ↑ Adam Bowie (September 26, 2008). "A brief history of Virgin Radio". One Golden Square. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  19. ↑ "An Introduction to Internet Radio" (PDF). European Broadcasting Union (EBU). 26 October 2005. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Saul Hansell (July 20, 1998). "Broadcast.com Faces Risks After Strong Initial Offering". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  21. ↑ "Yahoo! Completes Broadcast.com Acquisition". Yahoo! Media Relations. July 20, 1999. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Doc Searls, (July 17, 2002) "Why Are So Many Internet Radio Stations Still on the Air?" Linux Journal. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  23. ↑ National Film & Sound Archive (September 20, 2010). "National Film & Sound Archive". National Film & Sound Archive.
  24. ↑ Stockment, Andrew (December 2009). "Internet Radio: The Case for a Technology Neutral Royalty Standard". Virginia Law Review. Retrieved 2013-10-06.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Michael Roberts (May 2, 2002). "Digital Dilemma: Will new royalty fees kill Web radio?". Westword. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Carlos Militante (April 26, 2007). "Stagnant royalty rates may bring end to Internet radio". Spartan Daily (San Jose State U.). The Daily Collegian. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Michael Geist (April 9, 2007). Web radio may stream north to Canada. The Toronto Star.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Gray, Hiawatha (March 14, 2007). Royalty hike could mute Internet radio: Smaller stations say rise will be too much, The Boston Globe.
  29. ↑ Broache, Anne (2007-04-26). "Lawmakers propose reversal of Net radio fee increases". CNet News. Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  30. ↑ Official SaveNetRadio PSAs & Day Of Silence Network Audio. The Toronto Star.
  31. ↑ Duncan Riley (May 30, 2007). CBS Acquires Europe’s Last.FM for $280 million Techcrunch. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  32. ↑ Russ Garrett (June 25, 2007). Post by Russ on Last.fm Forum - Day of Silence, June 25, 2007. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
  33. ↑ Olga Kharif (2007-08-23). "Webcasters and SoundExchange Shake Hands". BusinessWeek.com. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  34. ↑ Mark Hefflinger (2007-08-22). "SoundExchange Offers Discounted Music Rates To Small Webcasters". DigitalMediaWire.com. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  35. ↑ Rusty Hodge, (August 1, 2007) SoundExchange extends (not very good) offer to small webcasters. SomaFM. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  36. ↑ David Oxenford (September 19, 2007) SoundExchange Announces 24 Agreements - But Not One a Settlement With Small Webcasters. Broadcast Law Blog.
  37. ↑ Peter Whoriskey (August 16, 2008) Giant Of Internet Nears Its 'Last Stand'. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Miller, Cain Claire (Oct.27, 2008) Even If Royalties for Web Radio Fall, Revenue Remains Elusive, The New York Times.
  39. ↑ Scott M. Fulton, III (January 29, 2009) Copyright Board begrudgingly adopts revenue-based streaming royalties. BetaNews.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.

Further reading