Today in The New York Times there is an excellent introduction to 'Net radio called "Stream Fishing: A Guide to Internet Radio." We recommend you pick up the print edition of The Times today to check it out. Tomorrow in RAIN, we'll excerpt from it, and provide a link to read it online.

From the San Jose Mercury News: "Internet radio is in jeopardy. At issue is the size of a new royalty that Webcasters will pay recording companies and performing artists for playing their tapes and CDs.

"Giving performers a piece of the action isn't a bad idea, if the cut is reasonable. But the proposed royalty is excessive, and the paperwork that Webcasters would have to keep is burdensome as well as potentially invasive of listeners' privacy. The combination could wipe out many of Internet radio's pioneers.

"Performance fees are a new royalty Congress passed at the behest of the recording industry's Internet-phobic lobby, the Recording Industry Association of America. Radio stations haven't had to pay a performance royalty, on the theory that the tunes they play on the air serve to promote CD sales. Instead, they pay a royalty to the songwriter.

"In 1995, however, Congress bought the RIAA's argument that Internet radio stations should pay both, on the grounds that Web streaming produces perfect digital copies, creating opportunities for theft. That has not turned out to be true: Streaming degrades the quality of a recording. Piracy from streaming hasn't been a problem...

"Next month, the U.S. Copyright Office will respond to the arbitration panel's recommendation. After that, either side can appeal to federal court.

"If the Patent Office doesn't slash the royalty, Congress should consider rescinding it.

"Internet radio gives consumers reason to go out and install high-speed Internet cable or DSL in their homes. By rescuing Internet radio, Congress would encourage the growth of broadband and diversity of entertainment on Net -- a winning combination."

Read the entire editorial from yesterday's Mercury News online here. We think this is the most cogent, well-written piece we've seen yet. And the fact that it's an editorial from a large-market newspaper (as opposed to an opinion piece from a single columnist, which would still be pretty great) makes it even better. Thanks to Mike Danberger at Empire Broadcasting for tipping us.

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BY PAUL MALONEY
FMQB reports that radio listenership is continuing its steady decline, as shown by the Fall Arbitron numbers (see graphs).

When compared with the previous three Fall ratings periods, both the "Persons Using Radio" (PUR) and "Time Spent Listening" numbers have consistently fallen in all demos over time -- most notably among teens.

The result is that over the past four years, the PUR has fallen by 1.2 percentage points. TSL has dropped from 21 hours and 30 minutes in Fall ’98 to 20 hours.

These numbers are especially alarming not only for what they tell us about the present, but possibly about the future. It can be argued that listening habits that are reflected later in life are often formed earlier on. The sharp drop among teenagers might be a preview of even more drastic listening decreases across the board in years to come.

See FMQB's story here.

From The New York Times: "A serious music collector with hundreds of albums easily could fill a closet with vinyl records, CDs and tapes. Now, all those tunes can be squeezed into a portable handheld gadget.

"Three new music players from Apple Computer, Creative Labs and SonicBlue store thousands of songs on built-in hard drives, run for 11 hours on a single charge and offer a host of features.

"APPLE iPOD: In simplicity and size, the iPod is the player to beat...The strongest feature is how well it works with Apple's iTunes music software. In a textbook example of what plug-and-play should be, the iPod automatically syncs with songs on the computer...Though various hacks are available online to make the iPod work with a PC, Apple currently only supports it running on a Mac...

"CREATIVE LABS NOMAD JUKEBOX 3: Windows users looking for the quick transfer speeds of the iPod and automatic synchronization with a computer-based song library do have an option: Creative's Nomad Jukebox 3. It stores twice as many songs as the iPod on its 20-gigabyte drive, but is roughly twice the physical size and weighs in at 10.2 ounces...Even with the fast connection, the Nomad downloaded 330 songs in 6 minutes -- the same time it took the iPod to transfer more than 1,000. The Nomad's LCD screen isn't as sharp as the other models and navigation takes some getting used to...

"SONICBLUE RIORIOT: The iPod so far works just on Macs. The Nomad so far works just on IBM compatibles. SonicBlue's RioRiot works on both...It also has the most advanced music selection system...All that's great, but the Riot still disappoints. Of the three players tested, it is the only one that transfers songs solely by USB 1.0. In the six minutes that the iPod loaded 1,010 songs, the Riot managed to load just 34...The Riot also is saddled with RealNetworks' RealJukebox, a clunky, outdated program that reminds users to upgrade whenever it is launched. The problem is that the upgrade, RealOne, isn't yet officially supported..."

This entire review, from yesterday's New York Times, can be found online here.