SomaFM
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SomaFM is a listener-supported non-commercial Internet-only streaming music station, which started broadcasting out of Rusty Hodge's garage in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California. SomaFM is one of the largest Internet-only streaming music stations, with 1 million listener-hours per month. SomaFM plays mainly alternative electronic genres, including glitch, ambient, chill out, and downtempo as well as Indie Rock and Secret Agent (Lounge) music.
History
SomaFM began as a pirate radio station broadcast at the Burning Man festival in 1999. The response to the project was sufficiently positive that Rusty Hodge launched it as a full-time internet radio station in February 2000. Taking its name from the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco and Soma, "perfect pleasure drug" from Brave New World, and marketed entirely by word of mouth, SomaFM's twelve channels reached a peak listenership of 10,000 by 2002.
Conflict with the RIAA
In May 2002, the DMCA CARP ruling came into effect, which enabled RIAA representatives to subject online broadcasters to royalty fees, designed – in the opinion of many online broadcasters[who?] – to drive those broadcasters out of business. SomaFM was asked to pay 14/100 of a cent for each recording broadcast retroactively through October 1998 which could have potentially shut down the station. Hodge initially estimated that the station could have been forced to pay fees to the RIAA of over $1,000 USD per day to continue operations. In June 2002, SomaFM was forced to stop streaming due to a potential bill of $15,000 USD per month to continue broadcasting.
Hodge was one of several webcasters who testified before the U.S. Congress in 2002.[1] Subsequently, Congress passed the Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 on November 15, 2002[2], which enabled small webcasters to negotiate a more reasonable rate with SoundExchange. The final negotiated rate for the period through 2002 was 8 percent of gross revenues or 5 percent of expenses. For 2003-2005, the rate was 10 percent of first $250,000 USD in gross revenues and 12 percent of any gross revenues in excess of $250,000 USD a year, or 7 percent of expenses, whichever is greater.[3]
SomaFM resumed broadcasting in late November 2002 under this new royalty structure.
On June 26, 2007, SomaFM participated in the "Internet Radio Day of Silence" in protest of the Copyright Royalty Board's recent decision to raise royalty fees for internet radio stations (which go back retroactively to January 1, 2006), which were planned to go into effect on July 15th. On July 13 some services were allowed to continue paying at the older rates while good-faith negotiations were continuing,[4] pending a different decision by the Copyright Royalty Board or by congress on the Internet Radio Equality Act.
References
- ^ http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=258&wit_id=542
- ^ http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200211/111502.html
- ^ http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2002/67fr78510.html
- ^ http://www.pillsburylaw.com/content/portal/publications/2007/7/2007726172921781/Communications%20Media%20Entertainment%20Copyrights%20IP%20Vol%202600%20No%202603%2007-26-07.pdf
- Coomey, Chris (June 30, 2004). "Move over, pirate radio — from a Bernal Heights garage, Internet station SomaFM plays tunes for the whole wide world, and it's all perfectly legal". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Mieszkowski, Katharine (June 21, 2002). "Web radio's last stand". Technology and Business. Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "RIAA kills US-based Internet radio". Kuro5hin. June 21, 2002. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
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