Report: Web Radio Royalty Talks Could Soon Produce Deals

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 11, 2007 - 8:50am.

New York - Some involved in the prickly royalty negotiations between music webcasters and the major record labels believe that issues could be resolved as early as the end of September, the Associated Press reported.

John Simson, executive director of SoundExchange -- the organization set up by record labels to collect and distribute digital royalties -- told AP he is "optimistic" on reaching a deal, at least with public radio stations, this month.

Public radio's NPR is currently conducting a complex survey on the Internet listening habits of its audience, which it plans to discuss with SoundExchange soon.

Likewise, the Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents large webcasters like Yahoo, AOL, Pandora and Live365, is "cautiously optimistic" that an agreement will emerge in coming weeks.

"We're in a holding pattern," DiMA head Jonathan Potter told AP.

"This is obviously not the time for people to be launching new ventures. We've got to resolve this before the industry can get to the next level."

However, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), which includes the nation's largest terrestrial radio broadcasters, told AP it's disappointed that it has been waiting three months for SoundExchange to respond to its proposals.

"It takes a fair amount of work, and we've been doing the due diligence" on assessing NAB's proposals, Simson told AP.