Ever wonder why radio is still around when you are able to download podcasts, stream music (and even video) and listen to talk shows and the news all online? While we guess traditional radio still has its place in society, it seems that for the first time in the UK, royalty rates collected from online music licensing has actually exceeded that of royalties collected from regular radio. According to the Performing Rights Society (PRS) in the UK, they have found that royalties collected from online radio amount to £51.7 million, which is definitely more than the £47 million collected from radio royalties last year.
The PRS attribute this increase in royalties to online music services, such as Google Play and Xbox Music service, although we guess other players such as Spotify, Pandora and the likes probably play a role as well. However it should be noted that this is not exactly a fair comparison as royalties from online music is a combination of sales as well as from streaming, while royalties collected from radio is merely from broadcasts and does not take into account physical sales, but it still gives off a pretty good impression nonetheless.