When I sat down to write this month's article my initial intent was to sing the praises of internet radio broadcasting and the numerous online radio stations and sites available, Live365.com in particular. I thought this was going to be a relatively simple task, I should have known better.

After all internet radio broadcasting involves MP3 files. It seems these days anything with the initials M P and the numeral 3 in its name is bound to get complicated. (see "Stay Of Execution" this issue).

Be that as it may....
Live365.com is an online broadcasting site that provides to its users at no cost the server space and bandwidth to create free Internet radio stations. This free service includes 365 MB of storage for your MP3s. Live365.com claims to have over 13,000 broadcasters in over 65 countries.

I went to Live365, registered and then downloaded a very slick little program called EasyLoader (currently for PC only) for uploading my MP3s to their site. Following their instructions I sent a few of my MP3s their way. I then arranged my songs and setup my play list. A few more mouse clicks and I found myself sitting back and marveling at my accomplishments. It was right around this point I made my mistake, I started reading the legal and Q&A sections, what a quagmire!

Here are a few snippets from 365s Q&A area to serve as example:

"If you have permission of the artists, then you can broadcast as much as you like. You may be asked by the RIAA to produce documentation at some point, though." (Mike)

"God knows, when I headed over to the link provided by Live365.com to the actual Govt. bill - it was 96 pages long! Talk about confusion." (Marc)

"...seems to me that if you're dealing with UNSIGNED musicians, next question is whether they're doing ORIGINAL works or covering others-- if the former, they're probably their own copyright holders, and you can deal directly with them to get permission to broadcast and/or post your play lists ahead of time! If the performances are covers of copyrighted works, then the ole familiar DMCA rules apply." (Skoal!)

Ahhhh, hello? And I thought the NAPSTER snafu was something?

Live365.com states that they have taken care of, or are currently in the process of taking care of, all U.S. musical composition performance royalties through their licenses with ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, and have taken care of U.S. sound recording performance royalties by complying with the terms of recent legislation enacted by Congress of the United States of America.

In general this means you can broadcast music from CDs that you have purchased. However please be advised:

1. If you intend to rip tunes from your CDs and worry about things like legalities then by all means have a look at Live365 Legal Questions.

2. They say nothing about European legalities. At least nothing I could find.

But now the good news...

Do you want your music to be heard? You looking for a place to showcase your work to potentiality millions? Have a look at these Q&As...

"Can I have a station that plays only songs from my own band? If so, what rules apply?"
"If your station includes only songs that feature recordings of your own band (or you as a solo artist), and your band owns all rights in those recordings, then you can include those songs in your programs (of course, that is, if the rest of your band authorizes you to do so!). If you are the sole performer, then no other permission would be necessary. If the only songs included in your programs are songs featuring you or your band, then the DMCA rules would not apply to your programs. In other words, for example, you could play such songs as many times as you would like in any given time period, you could have looped programs of less than three hours, and so on. Of course, to keep listeners interested, most Internet broadcasters find it important to constantly vary the material featured on their stations." (live365.com)

"What if the program contains only recordings of my band?"
"If your program contains only recordings of your band (and if you own and control all rights in such recordings), then the DMCA rules would not apply to your programs. In other words, you can have a looping program of only your band's music that repeats itself over and over. (See also Legal FAQ #4)." (live365.com)

For the independent artist, record producer or manager I can't imagine a better way for the world to hear their product. Aside from being able to present 365 MB of material, there is a profile page provided by live365.com that can be filled out. This profile page then appears next to your station's listing. Once you are up and running you may also take advantage of the postcard feature, which allows you to send email postcards to whom ever you like. This enables them to link directly to your radio station.

You certainly can not argue with the price for all these services, it's free.