Internet Radio's Day of Silence

More details on the fight against the new, bad deal for webcasters: On June 26, thousands of Internet radio stations will go silent for twenty-four hours to protest a recently announced hike in the royalty rates they pay to play music on their sites. If the new rates -- which will be more than double the current rates for webcasters -- go into effect as scheduled on July 15th, many stations say they'll have no choice but to shut down. Leading the fight against the ruling is the SaveNetRadio Coalition, which includes large webcasters like Rhapsody, Yahoo! and Pandora, as well as dozens of smaller ones. "The arbitrary and drastic rate increases... threaten the very livelihood of thousands of webcasters and their millions of listeners," says Jake Ward, a spokesperson for the organization.

While most stations will refrain from playing anything on Tuesday, others will devote the day to anti-shutdown programming. KCRW, L.A.'s National Public Radio affiliate, will stream a 60-minute special "D-Day For Webcasters" every hour at KCRW.com and on the airwaves at 2pm.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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