Statutes Shape Streaming Services

In the Listening Post blog at Wired, Eliot Van Buskirk tries out Boomshuffle, a new service from Snocap, New Direction For SnoCap: Free, 15-Song Embeddable Mixes: “The service only plays 30-second clips of the songs unless you include 15 tracks by 15 different artists, because that helps Boomshuffle qualify for a lower internet radio royalty rate — fine by me, I’d rather include more music anyway. Other royalty-related requirements: the songs shuffle, and users can’t skip to a specific song, rewind, or skip more than 4 tracks”
Here is a case of how the statutory licensing has directly shaped the way that this service operates.
Take a look at 17 USC §114(d)(2) and compare the limits of interactivity allowed for webcasters using the statutory license with the terms of the Boomshuffle service.