For the first time, royalties earned from digital-music services in the UK just surpassed licensing revenues from radio broadcasts.

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Its business plan calls for licensing its technology to radio manufacturers and to collect royalties from stations that convert their existing facilities to broadcast a digital signal.

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Conservative MP Justine Greening, who speaks for the party on licensing, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One said she was amazed by the minister's comments in the newspaper.

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In one corner is the MusicFIRST Coalition, which includes the Recording Industry Association of America, several artist groups and SoundExchange, the folks who collect licensing fees from satellite and Internet radio stations and distribute it in the form of royalty payments to musicians.

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It does this by licensing temporary monopolies over parts of the radio spectrum while ensuring that a number of networks compete in this market.

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The Internet threatens radio broadcasters by destroying the barriers to entry created by the government's licensing of airwaves.

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