MSU’s WDBM (88.9 FM) may have a problem it can’t fix.
The online radio station, The Fix.org, is offline pending a proposed regulation to charge fees for playing music online.
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington will make his decision June 20.
The fees were proposed by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel to help alleviate the struggle between Internet broadcasters and record labels over how much musicians should be compensated when their music is streamed online.
“Our opinion on the fee right now is, for an educational outlet for broadcasting, it’s harder to justify spending that kind of money on audio streaming,” said Ryan Schram, director of Internet Development and MSU Student Radio.
“In fact, the structure is absolutely ridiculous.”
MSU Student Radio has spent close to $10,000 on the station’s equipment as well as additional educational fees to license the streaming provider Real Audio, the general management senior said.
The extra fees also could be bad news for small streamers.
Schram said independent streamers including MSU could be shut down and reduced to a point where it is no longer valuable for people to listen to.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Impact office manager Scott Wainstock said.
“I listen to a lot of online radio and it just seems like other people should be happy to get the kind of exposure with their music like that and not have people pirating it.”
Waintstock also said it creates the ideal median between purchasing music and getting it free from Napster or other file sharing services because it allows a large audience to hear it without downloading it.
“Since most of your stuff is online for The Fix and Impact if all those bills do go through then we’ll end up having to spend considerable amount of money,” he said.
“Any laws that get rejected when it comes to extra fees helps us out.”
Meanwhile, faithful listeners to online stations must wait to see if the fees will put an end to streaming music.
“I use online radio a lot at work because it provides so much more variety,” zoology junior Danielle Fleszar said.
“It would be a shame for it to end because it becomes no longer affordable.”
While record companies are pushing for the regulations to be passed, they still provide music to the stations.
“Streaming is such a big part of our station in particular because it enables so many people who have moved away after graduation to keep in touch with MSU,” said Beth Perrine The Fix station general manager.
“We get (electronic requests) from Australia, Kentucky and everywhere in-between.”
In the fall of 2001, an entire office building in Colorado discovered The Fix and tuned in.
“That was cool for us because we’re more than just East Lansing now and cutting that down will really take away from some of the pride,” Perrine said.
“We’re still going to be proud of the station no matter what, but it takes away from all the great things we’re trying to strive for.”
But the problems don’t end with no longer being able to use the Internet for streaming music.
MSU would have to pay from as far back as 1998 when it first began streaming music.
Paying the back fees would eliminate the current budget and put the station into a corner, Perrine said.
The back fees could drain the already small pockets of the college radio station.
In spite of the imposing fees that could take effect in two weeks - the music reluctantly may never cease playing.
“It’s something we would have to talk about with our director staff and our general manager - but I really couldn’t see us stopping,” Perrine said.
“It’s such a big part of who we are.”
MSU Student Radio is currently investigating different feasibility plans to continue providing quality programming for listeners.
“We’d like to continue to be an innovator in the industry and do whatever it takes to make that happen, but obviously be cost-conscious at the same time,” Schram said.
