INDY ROCKS Going Off of the Internet Airwaves!

Thanks to the US Federal government's Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), INDY ROCKS and thousands of other internet radio stations are being closed down.  The CRB did not renew the small commercial webcasters license.  They ruled in favor of big business, ie, Spotify and Pandora.

What this means is that independent internet radio stations that served the artist and their music are gone.  No longer will less popular genres have advocates keeping the music alive.  And, no longer will music lovers be curating playlists, the corporate bean counters have taken over.

It was a good run, about a decade, to be exact.  We are not sure when our stream will be taken down, but we will ride it out to the very end.

We have put together a rocking "going away playlist" featuring the classic WNAP "Wrath of the Buzzard" promo.  Check out the broadcast HERE!

Happy Trails!


Here is the letter from Live365 informing their broadcasters of the end of broadcasting:

Dear Live365 Broadcaster,

For 17 years, Live365 has offered small webcasters the opportunity to stream music and talk programming, providing an alternative distribution channel for diverse, quality content on the Internet in a legally responsible way.

Recently, the Copyright Royalty Board, the governing entity for establishing the sound recording royalty rates that are paid to copyright holders, has published the new rates for 2016-20. The previous provisions for small webcasters to opt for a percentage of revenue model were not renewed. The current provisions end at the end of 2015.

The absence of this license will make legally streaming copyrighted musical content prohibitively expensive for many small to mid-sized Internet broadcasters. Live365 relies on this license for many of their broadcast partners and, as such, has hard decisions to make regarding their future in the streaming industry.

Two weeks ago, Live365 faced an additional blow, losing the support of its investors who have helped the company with its mission for over a decade. The company was forced to significantly reduce staff and is now actively looking for partners to help continue the service into 2016.

At this time, Live365 is planning to keep their stations active while getting the word out about this investment opportunity. With nearly two decades of Internet streaming experience and thousands of paying customers, this could be an ideal situation for a company looking to diversify into streaming audio.

CEO N. Mark Lam has begun initial discussions with possible business partners as the company looks to new options in the new year.

Dean Kattari, Director of Broadcasting for Live365:

"The true value of Live365 lies in it's diversity of content - it's a sanctuary where you can hear music and other content that it so unlike the template broadcasting that is heard on most terrestrial radio. These stations are the hard work of real human beings who use Live365 to share their vision with the world. It's a home for musical discovery because many of these stations play emerging artists that terrestrial stations are reluctant to take a chance on. It would be a great loss for this to all go away."

We thank you for being part of the Live365 family and hope for the best in 2016.

Rock on,

The Last of the Live365ers