Internet radio
[4] Nevertheless, some major networks like TuneIn Radio, Audacy, Pandora Radio, iHeartRadio 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.
[5] 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 or on a smartphone app.
In recent years, dedicated devices that resemble and offer the listener a similar experience to a traditional radio receiver have arrived on the market.
[6] Streaming technology is used to distribute Internet radio, typically using a lossy audio codec.
[7] 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.
[8] A local tuner simulation program includes all the online radios that can also be heard in the air in the city.
[9] 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."
"[9] An April 2008 Arbitron survey[10] showed that, in the US, more than one in seven persons aged 25–54 years old listen to online radio each week.
[13] In 2015, it was recorded that 53% of Americans, or 143 million people, ages 12 and up currently listen to internet radio.
"[22] On November 7, 1994, WXYC (89.3 FM Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 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.
[23] WREK (91.1 FM, Atlanta, GA USA) started streaming on the same day using their own custom software called CyberRadio1.
"[26] Eventually, companies such as Nullsoft and Microsoft released streaming audio players as free downloads.
[32] It was the first Internet radio station to be crowdsourced and programmed by professional broadcasters and crowdfunded by a unique partnership of people, charities and businesses.
[34] 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.
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 company.
From 2000 onwards, most Internet radio stations increased their stream quality as bandwidth became more economical.
[42] Many of these critics organized SaveNetRadio.org, "a coalition of listeners, artists, labels and webcasters"[41] 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 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.
[51] 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.
[52] 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.
The Webcaster Settlement Act of 2009 expired in January 2016, ending a 10-year period in which smaller online radio stations, Live365 among them, could pay reduced royalties to labels.
On January 31, 2016, webcasters who are governed by rules adopted by the Copyright Royalty Board were required to pay to SoundExchange an annual, nonrefundable minimum fee of $500 for each channel and station,[55] the fee for services with greater than 100 stations or channels being $50,000 annually.
