At the end of 2015, with just weeks left in the year, the Copyright Royalty Board announced the licensing rulings for 2016-2020. In an unanticipated move, the Small Webcaster category was excluded. Nice holiday “surprise”, right? As a result, our streaming provider, Live365, was forced to discontinue the broadcasting program of which we have been a part since 2007. The costs to continue streaming our internet radio stations would increase significantly under the new licensing rulings, making it impossible for us to keep our stations on the air at this time.
When we first began back in 2003 as internet radio station Mystic Soundscapes, internet radio was in its early years. As time went on, we re-named as Radio Mystic, added Winterscapes Radio in 2004, and Atmospheres Radio just a few years ago. Today, the landscape for streaming radio stations has changed dramatically, and with it, the ability for small webcasters like us to economically remain viable. It’s hard to let our stations go, but in the face of what has transpired over the last couple of weeks, there is no acceptable alternative which would allow us to remain on the air right now.
The Radio Mystic, Atmospheres and Winterscapes streaming stations are now off the air. Thousands of other small webcasters have also been forced to shut down or search for new avenues in order to continue broadcasting legally. We’re not taking this lightly – we’re searching for new options, new streaming providers, and alternatives that will allow us to return our stations to the internet airwaves as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Radio Mystic will continue to produce podcasts as we have been. All of our current and former podcasts can now be downloaded FREE directly from our website, as well as in iTunes, Google Podcasts and from other podcast providers.
Watch for additional content coming this year in the form of live video hangouts, artist interviews, music giveaways and lots more. For all the latest, keep an eye on our website and be sure you’re subscribed to the Radio Mystic Podcast and our Facebook page, where we announce up-to-the-minute news and information on a frequent basis.
As always, thanks for listening!