Rhapsody, SomaFM, Live365, MTV, Pandora, RauteMusik.FM, SHOUTcast, and Digitally Imported were among the participants in the Day of Silence. Last.FM and Slacker did not participate, saying that they did not want to punish their listeners for the station's problems. Supporters of the increase in royalty rates, however, point to the fact that CBS recently purchased Last.FM for 280 million dollars, and if internet radio is to build businesses off of the product of recordings, the performers and owners of those recordings should receive fair compensation. They also point to the fact that the rates were flat from 1998 through 2005 (see above), without even being increased to reflect cost-of-living increases.
On May 1, 2007, the United States Copyright Royalty Board approved a rate increase in the royalties payable to performers of recorded works broadcast on the internet. This was the result of a two year proceeding, with dozens of witnesses and hundreds of documents from over twenty different parties, including large and small webcasters, NPR, college stations, and SoundExchange. The CRB was privy to private financial records and business models of the webcasters, and after reviewing the evidence and testimony, issued their decision on May 1, 2007 (which is currently under appeal). If enforced, this decision will undermine the business models of many Internet radio stations, which had previously relied on the rate of $0.000768 per song that had been unchanged from 1998-2005. These rules were scheduled to go into effect on May 1, 2007, with the first due date being July 15, 2007, and apply retroactively to January 1, 2006.
