Parasite killing its host. Pandora is on it’s last legs.

In the words of one outspoken musician who broke free from the big labels and found a loyal audience before the internet was a public platform:

The United States is a nation of laws: badly written and randomly enforced. - Frank Zappa 

Anyone who is paying attention knows that the onslaught of intellectual property laws coming out of our Luddite Congress are being written and paid for by old media, the big labels and failed business model purveyors like Microsoft.

While the big labels rarely pay artists, they have managed have a number of pay for play tiers put into place with the highest leveled against new media. Most recently is an extremely punitive per play royalty imposed on Internet play. The law’s effect silenced thousands of independent Internet broadcasters and now threatens the 2000 pound Gorilla of the business - Pandora. Never mind the fact Pandora freely promotes big label artists as well as independents better than old fashioned radio that pays no royalties.

Radio stations pay different rates depending on how they broadcast music. Terrestrial stations (normal FM/AM stations) pay nothing, a tribute to their powerful corporate parents with limitless lobbying budgets. Satellite stations pay approximately 1.6 cents per hour per listener. By 2010, Pandora and other Internet radio stations, which have few lobbying resources, must pay 2.91 cents.

Pandora says they’re alread paying 70% of their $25 million in yearly revenues in royalty fees, and it is driving them out of business. Other Internet radio stations are even worse off.

For their part, the music industry says Internet radio stations have no one but themselves to blame, and suggest they find more innovative revenue models.

The blatant discrimination between terrestrial, satellite and Internet radio stations is ridiculous. But little is likely to change - large scale protests last year over royalty increases were mostly ignored. (Tech Crunch)

Dear Congress. Quit staring at those RIAA and big label checks and perks for a while and see to the light. They, along with of you are the parasites in this society.