At this time RadioAMP and most of the webcasting industry are awaiting the beginning of that arbitration, and we are anxiously awaiting the final result that will provide some definition as to our operating costs into the future. Compulsory Licenses Benefit Consumers. As members of this subcommittee know, broadcast radio for rational economic reasons has for many years been abandoning programming formats that do not reach the broadest audiences with the most economically favorable demographics. An unfortunate result has been a diminution in the amount of non-mainstream music programming on broadcast radio, such as jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass and folk music. For webcasters and music lovers, however, radio's limitations create our opportunity.
Internet radio reaches a nationwide niche audience for virtually any genre of music.
But this opportunity would be severely inhibited without the compulsory licenses referenced above. With compulsory licenses those administrative hassles are not necessary. Equally important, compulsory licenses assure any competitor the right to get in the game. With compulsory licensing, the Internet is teeming with start-up companies and entrepreneurial businessmen and women who turn their passions and dreams into viable businesses. Without compulsory licensing, licenses might be more selectively awarded only to major media outlets, or to entities vertically integrated with the owners of the copyrighted music content.