Internet Radio Protest

You could be hearing the sounds of silence on your favorite Internet radio stations -- and we're not talking about the Simon and Garfunkel song. Dozens of online music broadcasters will go silent today.

It's to protest a new set of royalty rates that many smaller companies say would put them out of business. MTV, Live365, Pandora, AccuRadio and several public radio stations including KCRW in Los Angeles, say they'll join the silent online protest.

The Internet radio stations want listeners to support a bill in Congress that would roll back the new rates.

The royalties are paid to SoundExchange, a music industry group that distributes the payments to artists and recording labels. Richard Ades, a spokesman for SoundExchange, called the Webcasters' day of silence a "moot point." He says SoundExchange is in active negotiations with smaller Webcasters over the issue.