Feb. 22, 2001 marked the crossover for University of Wisconsin’s student radio station, WSUM, from broadband to broadcasting. At the same time, WSUM dodged new fees put into place which affect Internet radio stations. The new fees are causing a number of colleges across the country to ax their online radio stations.
The fees started in June and must be paid to music labels and musicians for sound recordings.
The minimum amount a station has to pay annually is $500. However, these fees are retroactive to 1998. As a result, a university wishing to start a new station would have to pay $2000, as well as those already on the air or Net. This does not include another fee paid from WSUM to songwriters for playing their songs.
In addition, stations must “track very personal and invasive information about listeners,” WSUM general manager Dave Black stated. “We would be required to document 24/7/365 listenership through a software program that would require technical support that we would also need to pay for.”
Over 100 stations have already ceased webcasting until further discussion and resolution of the issue.
“The fees are overbearing and too high for virtually all Internet radio stations, whether they broadcast on the air or not, commercial or non-commerical, in addition to being retroactive to 1998,” said Gabriel Movsesyan, general manager of New York University’s WNYU radio station.
WNYU shut down their web casting operations on April 5 to avoid any complications with copyright proposals. Their station is still doing very well, but Movsesyan is confident that a “presence on the internet is vital for any radio station.” They are hoping to return to the web after the issue is sorted out.
WSUM’s decision to go to the airwaves coincided with activation of the fees, but Station Manager Rodland Swims said the two had no bearing on each other.
“The decision to go on the air had been made long, long ago; we were originally a broadcasting station and never really considered webcasting a permanent solution,” Swims said.
Webcasting was an easy way for alumni, as well as friends and family, to tune into broadcasts and to hear what was going on at UW. During webcasting, approximately two to 20 people would tune in at one time. Needless to say, WSUM reaches a much broader audience now than before.
“Our staff is getting very used to functioning as a broadcasting radio station, and our programming is as good as it has ever been,” program director Jacob Heule commented.
WSUM recently hosted events at the Orpheum and the Memorial Union Terrace, and the staff is beginning to branch out to the community with more functions. Workers hope these events will not only get the community involved but also help raise money for the station.
“The station is growing stronger and stronger. Being on the actual radio has really peaked interest. Our number-one priority is for our station to be something people look at and say, ‘Madison is better for having it,'” said Jeremy Schaar, WSUM assistant program director and host of the radio program “Dems Fightin’ Songs . . . Country from the Heart.”
