The Plan

Not Cheap!

When we began, we set aside a budget of $36,000 a year to run the station and keep it free of commercials. That means, by the time we get to the summer of 2027, we will have spent $216,000. And once that time arrives, we'll be out of money!

U.S. Copyright Fees

The biggest cost we have, by far, is paying copyright licensing fees to U.S. performance rights organizations (PROs). Such organizations include BBM, ASCAP and Sound Exchange. These groups represent artists and composers who are paid "royalties" each time their music airs on radio stations, including Easy Jazz FM.

It is illegal to air copyright music in the United States without paying the PROs, which use the funds to cover their operating expenses and compensate their artists.

The more hours people listen to Easy Jazz FM, and the bigger our audience size, the more we must pay the PROs.

We are now paying between $3,000 and $3,500 a month to the US PROs.

Other Countries

Easy Jazz FM also has licensing for Canada and 38 other countries around the world - but the copyright fees we pay for those other countries is a fraction of what the U.S. requires.

For example, our fee to SOCAN, which represents composers in Canada, is $130 a year.

June 30, 2027

Because we have no commercials, all copyright fees are paid directly by us. And as of June 30, 2027 - we won't have sufficient funds to keep paying the U.S. PROs.

As a result, we'll be forced to stop broadcasting into the United States, starting July 1, 2027.

We'll be able to keep live streaming into Canada and all the other countries - in Europe, Asia, Central and South America (plus Australia/New Zealand) but not into the United States.

Commercials?

You may ask, why don't we simply air commercials to pay for the copyright licensing? Many Internet radio stations do just that - but in our case, we believe that airing loud, intrusive ads would completely destroy our format of quiet, relaxing jazz music.

Donations?

Ruling out the negative consequences of commercials, we've tried asking our listeners to help us with donations. Simply put: this has been a disaster.

So far, donations have reached $50 a month. We need to cover at least most of our copyright licensing fees of up to $3,500 a month.

It's true that we have not been aggressive in asking for donations. We're a little hesitant to do it, because we know how expensive life is these days.

But clearly - donations are not the way to go.

Sponsorships

We've concluded that the only way we're going to be able to keep broadcasting into the United States is with sponsors. Securing sponsorships is extremely difficult.

However, we've got a nice size audience of 30,000 per month and our many listeners are deeply loyal, tuned in for up to 6 to 8 hours a day. These are the exact conditions desired by many sponsors.

We are looking for sponsors who serve the U.S. or the U.S. and Canada since those two countries currently make up 90% of our audience.

What would sponsorship look like? Our hosts would read sponsorship messages and we'd arrange exclusivity so that a sponsor "owns" a certain program or time period for maximum exposure.

Our goal is to secure $2,500 a month in sponsorship by the end of June, 2027. We're willing to make up the other $1,000 a month from our own resources.

If you'd like to explore sponsorship for your organization, or you know of a company that would likely be interested - please reach out at this email address: support@easyjazz.fm

If we do not reach our goal, our broadcasting into the United States will stop on July 1, 2027.

Let's hope that doesn't happen!