Today is the Internet Radio Day of Silence

Tuesday, Jun. 26 2007 | Author: Griffith

If you usually follow the tech news, then you’ll know that today is the “Internet Radio Day of Silence”. This is, of course a form of protest against the new, and ridiculously high royalty rates, that they are asking for Internet Radio Stations.

“Yahoo, as well as Pandora, MTV, Real/Rhapsody” are all honoring this protest. But as in all crowds, there is always a black sheep, in this case it’s Last.FM. And why aren’t they honoring this protest?

Firstly, Last.fm is a social music platform and not only a radio station. Unlike many of our fellow webcasters, we have a vibrant social network, a massive music fanbase, and people spend a lot of time using the site without ever switching on the radio.

Secondly, as we’re based in London, this kind of legislation is not new to us. In fact, we’ve had to live with its existence since our inception in 2002.

In my opinion, “disabling” the radios for one day, wouldn’t stop people from debating or doing other social things with their network. Even though they are based in the UK, at times like these, all platforms should stick together.