Disappearance of SomaFM streams

[Aishagain]

It may not come as a surprise to some that SomaFM streams are no longer avaiable in Second Life.  I have been in touch with SomaFM and the reason is simple.  Soma have blocked Second Life because LL refused to pay any royalties on the music streams provided to SL by SomaFM.

What your opinion of this will almost certainly vary, and of course the streams can still be played in external radio players, so the music is not unavailable to all, but for now the shared experience of music streaming to the region from SomaFM is no more.

I do not hold out any hope of LL changing their attitude over this so we must, I guess, accept the situation.  It is something that really needs to be addressed and it is the same for virtually (sic) all streaming services.  The artists and the broadcasters need to be given due recompense for their medium.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Aishagain

[Qie Niangao]

SomaFM may have some fantasy that Linden Lab is responsible for the streaming content to which parcels may link, but that's not true, and no more true than the fact Google may return SomaFM URLs or we might post one on social media. There is no streaming into SL, there is no streaming through SL, there is only streaming from URLs posted as a courtesy in SL's parcel metadata.

Arguably viewers might be in a position to pay for the content they stream based on those URLs, inasmuch as they actually make a connection to the client machine's audio streaming libraries. SomaFM should take that up with Firestorm and see how far it gets.

(They are, objectively, idiots—but to be fair, they're probably idiots with financial problems.)

[bigmoe Whitfield]

Soma needs to learn that the person streaming paying the royalties, not the listeners. 

[Aishagain]

@Qie NiangaoThat is the point I have made to Somafm and I am awaiting their reply.  I am not holding my breath.

 

@bigmoe Whitfield: pardon?  I am not sure that I know what your comment means!

[animats]

Will Soma FM run in Google Chromium? Not Chrome, Chromium, the open source version. That's the browser inside SL viewers. It doesn't have any proprietary DRM systems.

[Aishagain]

Not tested it, Animats

[MBeatrix]

7 hours ago, animats said:

Will Soma FM run in Google Chromium? Not Chrome, Chromium, the open source version. That's the browser inside SL viewers. It doesn't have any proprietary DRM systems.

It does, I just tested it on Firestorm..

[Mikkoto Takeda]

2 hours ago, MBeatrix said:

It does, I just tested it on Firestorm..

Thanks Beatrix! This Radio Service would work without any problems.

[MBeatrix]

22 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

SomaFM may have some fantasy that Linden Lab is responsible for the streaming content to which parcels may link, but that's not true, and no more true than the fact Google may return SomaFM URLs or we might post one on social media. There is no streaming into SL, there is no streaming through SL, there is only streaming from URLs posted as a courtesy in SL's parcel metadata.

Arguably viewers might be in a position to pay for the content they stream based on those URLs, inasmuch as they actually make a connection to the client machine's audio streaming libraries. SomaFM should take that up with Firestorm and see how far it gets.

(They are, objectively, idiots—but to be fair, they're probably idiots with financial problems.)

I don't know if they have financial problems or not but if they do, that's not the way to have them solved. Maybe they reached a dominant position on internet radio streaming — or they think they did — but I'm sure they have no clue about how SL (and SL viewers) work. It's funny that they thought LL and SL users would care.
I know that some of their stations channels depend on donations... Now, why would I donate to a station for a channel I can't have playing at my SL place? If we can't have their stations playing at our place, we'll pick some other(s).
Yep, objectively, idiots.

Edited September 17, 2021 by MBeatrix
corrections

[Whirly Fizzle]

https://somafm.com/contact/tos.html

Quote

Scrobbling and Automated Re-Posting of Playlists Forbidden

"Scrobbling" and/or automated re-posting of playlists and now playing information is against our terms of use, and we may block access to users or services what are doing this.

 

It's possible that DJ Boards and the Firestorm viewer's feature for showing the currently playing track may break this section of their TOS.

[Aishagain]

@WhirlyFizzleBingo.  I didn't know that.  I'd say that has a lot more to do with this than any of the specious reasons Soma have quoted to me thus far!

However, how do we get around that block?

It seems unlikely that simply disabling the metadata function would solve the issue and yet if an individual streams Soma via an external player or browser, they have stated that they "have no problem with that".  Presented with that situation, it seems to me that Soma would have no case.

 Do we, in fact?  It seems that Soma consider that they have a dominant position in streaming into SL and "they can no longer ignore this situation" .  Put less prettily, they want to create a revenue stream from this.

Unfortunately, by crudely targeting Linden Lab, they hit the wrong target, I suspect.

The original artists get precious little from a stream, but now it seems the conduit wants a share of the pie.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Aishagain

[MBeatrix]

18 minutes ago, Whirly Fizzle said:

https://somafm.com/contact/tos.html

 

It's possible that DJ Boards and the Firestorm viewer's feature for showing the currently playing track may break this section of their TOS.

Good luck for their TOS.

[MBeatrix]

4 minutes ago, Aishagain said:

@WhirlyFizzleBingo.  I didn't know that.  I'd say that has a lot more to do with this than any of the specious reasons Soma have quoted to me thus far!

However, how do we get around that block?

 Do we, in fact?  It seems that Soma consider that they have a dominant position in streaming into SL and "they can no longer ignore this situation" .  Put less prettily, they want to create a revenue stream from this.

Unfortunately, by crudely targeting Linden Lab, they hit the wrong target, I suspect.

The original artists get precious little from a stream, but now it seems the conduit wants a share of the pie.

The conduit already had a share of the pie. Now they just want a bigger one.

[Aishagain]

4 minutes ago, MBeatrix said:

The conduit already had a share of the pie. Now they just want a bigger one.

Agreed.

The fact remains that a shared stream is not possible (though I gather that MOAP still works so maybe that gives us a workaround?).

Edited September 17, 2021 by Aishagain

[MBeatrix]

1 hour ago, Whirly Fizzle said:

https://somafm.com/contact/tos.html

 

It's possible that DJ Boards and the Firestorm viewer's feature for showing the currently playing track may break this section of their TOS.

Whirly? Do you know any music player that doesn't display "now playing information"? Anyone?
With that, SOMA sounds like a bunch of amateurs trying to make some money.

[Whirly Fizzle]

1 hour ago, MBeatrix said:

Whirly? Do you know any music player that doesn't display "now playing information"? Anyone?

I'm afraid I don't.

There are a couple of bug reports on the JIRA reporting this now.

BUG-231204 - Certain music streams unplayable in the viewer

BUG-231205 - Lost connectivity with SomaFM

[Whirly Fizzle]

Firestorm bug report: FIRE-31206 - Certain music streams unplayable in the viewer

So it appears SomaFM are blocking their streams on viewers using Fmod Studio as the audio decoder. Viewers still using the older Fmodex should still play the Soma streams.

[Whirly Fizzle]

The Soma FM music streams will still play via MOAP/shared media and via the viewer internal web browser.

[Chaser Zaks]

Please do keep in mind that SomaFM does have to pay for servers, as well as "MP3 licenses"(even though the patent is expired, they still trying to get people to pay for it), royalties for the music that is played, and the DJs that work to curate/mix the music.

SomaFM *very likely* as advertisements on their website. Residents who place the music URLs in their parcel are likely causing them to lose revenue. If I had a media service, and people took the URL and placed it else where on their parcels, I would likely be upset too, because I pay for the server.

In the end, it is SomaFM's servers, they have the final say on what may or may not be done with their bandwidth.

In the off chance that some people may believe that Linden Lab should pay SomaFM: It is not Linden Lab who owes royalties to SomaFM, but rather, the residents who choose to play music on their parcels.

There are plenty of other media streams out there, as well as the possibility to set one up yourself. I run a 24/7 media stream off a $11.50/mo OVH server, using a combo of open source software, including icecast(Stream server) and Liquidsoap(Source server).

Edited September 17, 2021 by Chaser Zaks

[Aishagain]

26 minutes ago, Chaser Zaks said:

In the end, it is SomaFM's servers, they have the final say on what may or may not be done with their bandwidth.

In the off chance that some people may believe that Linden Lab should pay SomaFM: It is not Linden Lab who owes royalties to SomaFM, but rather, the residents who choose to play music on their parcels.

Just so Chaser! 

[MBeatrix]

1 hour ago, Chaser Zaks said:

Please do keep in mind that SomaFM does have to pay for servers, as well as "MP3 licenses"(even though the patent is expired, they still trying to get people to pay for it), royalties for the music that is played, and the DJs that work to curate/mix the music.

SomaFM *very likely* as advertisements on their website. Residents who place the music URLs in their parcel are likely causing them to lose revenue. If I had a media service, and people took the URL and placed it else where on their parcels, I would likely be upset too, because I pay for the server.

In the end, it is SomaFM's servers, they have the final say on what may or may not be done with their bandwidth.

In the off chance that some people may believe that Linden Lab should pay SomaFM: It is not Linden Lab who owes royalties to SomaFM, but rather, the residents who choose to play music on their parcels.

There are plenty of other media streams out there, as well as the possibility to set one up yourself. I run a 24/7 media stream off a $11.50/mo OVH server, using a combo of open source software, including icecast(Stream server) and Liquidsoap(Source server).

I agree with most of what you wrote. However, I'm not inclined to accept paying SomaFM for setting one of their URLs to my parcel, and even less if the radio channel I choose is playing commercials that hit an hypothetical audience at a parcel I own and pay for.

Edited September 17, 2021 by MBeatrix
corrections

[StarWolff2000]

web page advertisements and pay-to-connect are not the only option available by a stream source to gain revenue.... Radio stations have had on-air advertisements on their broadcasts for ages, which are paid for by the advertiser. the major RL radio stations rely heavily on on-air advertising for revenue. Web page or per-connection charges are virtually irrelevant.

[Aishagain]

I realise that I may have given the wrong impression about the Somafm streams and their playing of adverts.  The only adverts that interrupt the music are adverts for the station (like a Station ID only a little more elaborate) and the occasional exhortation to support the station or channel.  My error.

Ashes and sackcloth are being donned as I speak (virtually).

[bigmoe Whitfield]

They offer free streams,  legally that means they are on the hook for the royalties not the users listening.  

[Verity Goodnight]

9 hours ago, Whirly Fizzle said:

https://somafm.com/contact/tos.html

 

It's possible that DJ Boards and the Firestorm viewer's feature for showing the currently playing track may break this section of their TOS.

oh lol, I was fine with not being able to listen to Soma FM in SL, but not being able to scrobble my listens to my last.fm account when listening elsewhere has put me right off.