RIAA Raises Rates on Internet Broadcasters - If Implemented, Will Change The Face of Internet Media

So I heard a very interesting item from Leo Laporte's TWiT Network and Buzz Out Loud - that the RIAA is going to increase the rate per listener for streaming radio by as much as three fold.

This could have some very interesting implications. But I think it's going to play out in one of a few ways - or even, a combination thereof.

1) Internet Radio Will Die. I don't necessarily buy this concept. People are resourceful.

2) It will evolve, and it will either evolve to:
a) Charge more for their advertising and add value to the proposition so advertisers pay more (actually, very possible - in general, I find people do not charge enough for the value of their content)
b) Carry indie artists or artists on a new breed of labels who are open to digital media (such as my beloved Barenaked Ladies).

Arbitron shows a strong adoption of internet radio - and I understand why. It has less commercials, it can have higher quality, and you can get whatever station you want, when you want (see a theme here on the internet?) and it doesn't have the same barrier to entry that podcasting has - although, we've mitigated it, it's still a bit confusing for some because of it's nomenclature.

The RIAA could very well be shooting themselves in the foot - internet media skews young, and that's where they get the kids to get into the music. However, the RIAA for the past few years has been in a freak-out dance, trying to save a dying business model and they're trying to apply all the old rules to a new game - because that's all that they understand. It's like taking the rules of the game "Monopoly" and applying them to "Hungry Hungry Hippos." It just doesn't work.

Footnote: There is a whole new business evolving in podsafe music - because the labels charge obscene amounts of money per download to use their music. It's in the early stages, but in time, it will continue to evolve and grow.