Public radio broadcasters may be nearing a royalty settlement with SoundExchange for their online streams. Jon Simson, head of SoundExchange, tells the AP said he is optimistic about reaching an agreement soon, possibly by the end of September.
Meanwhile, for other types of webcasters, the wait continues. As negotiations continue, the NAB is still waiting for a response to an offer it made SoundExchange three months ago. NAB EVP Dennis Wharton called the wait for a response "disappointing."
Last month SoundExchange reached an agreement with a group representing online companies such as Yahoo, AOL and Pandora to cap the per-channel fees that broadcasters would pay, on top of royalties. Still to be decided is the even larger issue of what the new royalty rates should be.
