Don't Let the music die

I've only recently been introduced to the online radio and I toally love it. I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered Pandora and I listen to it ALL the time. Thanks to Me, NPR has become my evening source of news. Not having a T.V at home ( a conscious decision) meant that Pandora and NPR became my best buddies. Which is why I didn't think twice about signing the below petition. I know I'm not in the US , but since when did online radio have boundaries ? In any case, if my signature can be of even the tiniest help , I'd be more than happy. Which is why I ask you to please sign this petition as well. If you do listen to online radio, then I'm sure you wouldn't have a moment's hesitation signing this . If you don't , then please do listen, it's amazing. And come and sign ...

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"Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,

I'm writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays, and broadcast radio doesn't pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends - the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I'm no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster's business potential.

I hope you'll take just a few minutes to sign our petition - it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)
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I'm not sure if the decision affects NPR. In any case, Pandora's worth a fight !