Are you streaming music online? If so are you aware that if your music is copyrighted material you have to be licensed to stream that music. It is perfectly legal to purchase a cd and rip the songs to your computer for your personal use. It is not legal to stream that music over the internet without the required licensing.

Streaming audio is considered broadcasting same as your local radio station and is therefore subject to royalty payments. There several thousand internet broadcasters that stream copyrighted music over the internet. Their options for having their streams licensed used to be limited to going to through the same basic process as any radio station which resulted in fees of around $2000.00. Quite a high price to pay just to stream your music collection over the internet. Not to mention they have to go by the rules and guidelines provided by the licensing agencies. Fortunately In the last few years alternative licensing opportunities have became reality. Now the average internet user can stream their music collection and be licensed to do so for less than $20.00 a month.

Several sites exist that can license your streaming music, for this article I will reference Loudcity. Since I wanted to create my own online radio station I knew I needed licensing. After some in depth research I chose Loudcity to be my licensing agent. After reading their licensing guidelines, which were easy to understand, I opened an account. It was an easy set up after that. Their forums provided answers to most questions I had. Within 5 minutes I was legally streaming my music collection and others were listening. Licensing is very important as the fines very high if you are caught streaming copyrighted music unlicensed. I highly recommend using a licensing company such as Loudcity to keep your stream legal.