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"Online radio has temporarily been saved, and these 7 awesome online radio services have prevailed.  At least for now.\nA SoundExchange executive testified before Congress on Thursday that the organization will not enforce new royalty rates which were scheduled to go into effect on Monday morning.  The fees, which were first announced in May, would have imposed an annual charge of $500 per station per year to online webcasters, which would in effect make their business models unsustainable.  \nWhile online radio is far from in the clear, the massive grassroots campaign to petition the fees (lead by SaveNetRadio.org) seems to have bought more time for now.  Here are a few of the companies that can sleep a little easier:\n\nAs a service built around user-created radio stations, Pandora could have quickly been out of business had the CRB\u2019s rates gone into effect.  Pandora\u2019s online radio service is built on top of the music genome project, an extensive analysis of the characteristics of thousands of songs that was started in 2000.  By combining that data with a \u201Cthumbs up / thumbs down\u201D voting system for songs, Pandora fine tunes your radio station to your preferences over time.  The service also allows you to share your station with friends.  \n\nLive365 is an online radio network that allows anyone to create their own radio station starting at $9.95/month while also offering premium packages for serious broadcasters.  The service additionally provides broadcasters with a variety of tools for ensuring they are compliant with DMCA guidelines.  Interestingly, the company also has official licenses with music industry organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.  Live365 was started in 1999 and currently offers thousands of stations, claiming more than 4 million monthly listeners.  \n\nPart of Nullsoft, which makes the popular WinAmp Media Player, SHOUTcast allows users to create their and manage their own Internet radio station.  Via the SHOUTcast web site, listeners can browse for stations in dozens of genres and tune in via WinAmp.  SHOUTcast also links you directly to the homepage of the broadcaster if available.  Originally launched in 1997, the site is now owned by AOL.\n\nAccuRadio features dozens of radio stations across all major genres.  The service allows you to customize your station by selecting which artists you DON\u2019T want to hear.  This is a fairly unique approach, as most other services base their selections on the music you enjoy either by explicitly selecting artists or listening habits.  Most of us have those artists that make us immediately reach for the radio dial, making AccuRadio\u2019s approach a clever one.  The service claims to reach more than 1 million listeners per month.\n\nYahoo\u2019s online radio service allows you to first select your favorite genres and artists and then creates a custom station for you.  Additionally, you can find other user's playlists and select them as \u201Cinfluencers,\u201D meaning that as they pick new artists and songs, it will influence what is played on your station as well.  With the premium version of LAUNCHcast, you can also create stations that will play music tailored to specific moods.  The service is completely web-based and runs right in your browser.  \n\nOne of the early leaders in streaming audio, Real is still going strong, offering media player software, a music download store, and Real Radio.  The latter is a radio network owned and operated by Real, with integration of the company\u2019s music store so you can purchase the tracks you are listening to.  Real also offers a premium version called RadioPass that includes higher audio quality and a commercial-free experience.\n\nMicrosoft\u2019s radio offering is actually powered by Pandora, making today\u2019s news a big win for MSN as well.  MSN Radio starts you off by letting you type in one of your favorite artists and then launching a station based on Pandora\u2019s music geneology project knowledge.  The MSN version includes all of Pandora\u2019s standard features, allowing you to stream music in the browser, share your station with others, and browse for people with similar tastes.\n\u2014-\nWhile online radio is saved for the moment, tense negotiations lie ahead as webcasters and the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) try to hammer out a deal.  Right now there is clearly a big disconnect between the two sides, as at $500 per station, services like Pandora and Yahoo Music that let users create their own the stations could be on the hook for \u201Cbillions of dollars\u201D according to Pandora founder Tim Westergren, who I had a chance to speak with on Thursday night.  Westergren called the CRB\u2019s proposed fees \u201Ca bizarre discrimination against Internet radio\u201D that account for nearly 70% of webcaster's revenue, versus the estimated 5% paid by satellite.\nWith more than 7 million people listening to online radio at some point every day according to SaveNetRadio, there is clearly a lot at stake."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/07/12/online-radio/>