Los Angeles - Radio giant Clear Channel has dropped a waiver it had been asking independent and unsigned artists to sign to make them eligible for online airplay, which many had construed to mean that such artists would forego any royalties for this airplay.

Washington - SaveNetRadio, a group backed by large webcasters such as AOL, Yahoo and Live365 who are represented by the Digital Media Association, said an offer put forth yesterday by SoundExchange that would provide below-market royalty rates for small webcasters would "decimate" the Internet radio industry.