WaPo: “Could Net Radio’s Extinction Be Close?“:

Faced with huge song royalty increases, Net radio may soon face extinction. That is according to Internet radio Webcaster Pandora’s founder Tim Westergren. He told the Washington Post his popular music Webcasting site is about to go offline because of increases in royalties his company must pay to the music industry. Westergren says that the Copyright Royalty Board’s agreement with SoundExchange, the royalties collecting arm of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is about to increase fees Pandora pays and thereby turn its small profits into a deficit.