Many of the streaming music sites had argued that all sites should pay a percentage of revenue rather than a per-song fee.
In addition, it attempts to accommodate smaller radio stations by allowing them to pay a flat fee rather than a per-song fee.
The bill, which has not yet been passed by the Senate, would let operators of Internet radio companies that make less than $500,000 pay artists and labels a percentage of their revenue instead of a flat per-song fee.
The Dell music service will compete with Apple's iTunes, which charges 99 cents a song, along with subscription services like Rhapsody, which charge users a monthly fee, plus a per-song fee.
It seems similar to subscription-based music services that offer all-you-can-eat music downloads for a set price per month while Apple has continued to hold steady with its per-song fee for downloads you can keep.
LOS ANGELES Imagine a service that provides instant downloads of popular music, like Apple's iTunes, but without the 99-cent-per-song fees.
In contrast to these per-song fees, TotalMusic was supposed to offer free streaming to sites in return for user data and all associated advertising revenue.
Historically, the major record labels have charged sites per-song fees for streaming, badgering everyone into submission with threats of lawsuits and steep penalties.
The one company who had such a personal cloud license is the now defunct Lala who had to agree to no downloads whatsoever, no mobile stream (web browser only) and costly per song stream fees.
According to the New York Post, citing "sources close to the situation," music publishers Sony/ATV wouldn't agree to Apple's proposed terms, seeking more in terms of a per-song rights fee from the tech industry leader to provide access to its content library for a streaming service.
