Audio ads for internet radio saving the industry?

Web applications like Pandora, Imeem, Shoutcast, and a host of other related sites provide access to Internet Radio. Those sites are just some of the most popular ones out there. Unfortunately, Royalty fees have been going up and up, ever since the decision was made by the Copyright Royalty Board for the following per performance rate in creases:


2006 - $.0008 per performance
2007 - $.0011 per performance
2008 - $.0014 per performance
2009 - $.0018 per performance
2010 - $.0019 per performance

These rates are far too high, and it's been a long fight for lower rates. At the current rates, most of the revenue produced on even large webcasters are been eaten up. Since last year, many webcasters have even closed. However, there may be a solution, and that solution is to find new revenue sources, such as audio ads.
Most webcasters rely on ads on their websites, but it is possible to use ads directly on their services to gain more revenue. While this may be a great way to get more revenue to sustain themselves, it also might be annoying to a lot of listeners.

Just think, hearing an ad after every song? Well, it might be annoying, but just like the video ads on many video sharing services out there, we'll have to put up with it. Otherwise, those services may be just gone. It's a part of service evolution. I think it's a great idea to start using targeted audio ads. With the new iPhones and mobile technologies, a lot more people are also using free online internet radio services more. Pandora said their growth rate was up almost 40% thanks yo the iPhone. These services are becoming more popular, and there has to be a way to provide it for free. If the royalties are causing so much distress, then maybe audio ads and other new revenue sources will be a good sacrifice to keeps these sites going.
It's a large industry that's going to keep growing, and higher royalties aren't going to stop it.
Tags: Internet Radio, Royalties, Copyright Royalty Board, Pandora, audio ads, ads, revenue, news, mobile technology, BlitzTech

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