This is when online radio was once advertised as being limitless. Like much of the internet was.
Now we see the limits.
The real scary part is when you see companies like AT&T buying up content companies like Time Warner and getting into the content and distribution business. They aren't buying up all these assets because they want to "play ball" and share their content with everyone. They are doing this to compete with Comcast Universal, Disney ABC, Fox, and all the other powerhouses. Apple doesn't "play ball" with anyone. We just had the Chairman of the FCC plead with Apple to simply activate the FM chip in their phones. He isn't asking them to spend money. Just play ball. They said no. That's the digital world now. Everyone is building their own sandbox.
Wadio is looking at this from the consumer perspective. He wants online radio to be like on-air. That's not going to happen. On-air is regulated to be the way it is. The regulation was based on the scarcity of spectrum. No scarcity in the digital world. It's the infinite dial. Online is the wild, wild west, and there are no barriers to anyone. So why should a content creator give his work away to someone who just wants a cut? It makes no sense.
You can learn a lot about a host or a show by going to the bottom of their website, and see who owns the copyright. If it's iHeart, they control the content. But if it's the host, it may be completely different, depending on the terms of the contract that host has with the company.
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