actually hobbyist are stil expected to cough up... SoundExchange fees are collected regardless if you have revenue or not, unless you can truly meet the definition of a non-commercial radio station which still requires a certain fees to be paid.
and i need to hire a better fact checker, because in this case the RIAA isn't actually doing the right thing if you are a songwriter... as this battle isn't over internet performance royalties which is still being disputed but over the mechanical royalties paid to songwriters. i.e. ASCAP.
RIAA and DiMA have formed sort of an unholy alliance in attempt to lower the mechanical rights.
So on one hand up with artists/labels but down with songwriters.
"We are seeking to have royalties be in line with what the record industry historically has paid," said Jon Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association, or DiMA. "Royalties today are disproportionately high for publishers in the context of overall sound recording pricing.... They've gone from 7 cents, to 8 cents, to 9 cents (per song), while record prices have dropped dramatically."
While songwriters want an increase from 9.1 cents to 12.5 cents per song sold -- saying distribution costs are dropping during the transition to digital -- the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, wants songwriting royalties to be set at 8 percent of the wholesale price. DiMA proposes 4.1 percent of the retail price, and has asked the Copyright Royalty Board to decide whether webcasters need to pay mechanical royalties at all, since streaming isn't designed to leave the consumer with a copy of the song.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2008/02/listeningpost_0204 also
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/01/here-we-go-agai.html#more
