Internet Radio Was My DJ

I had the opportunity to mix live sound for a popular 6-piece central Indiana band called The Tides last night at Wings in Anderson. What was interesting to me warranting a posting was the fact that it was the first time that I used my iPhone to provide the break music between sets. I pulled up one of my custom reggae stations on Slacker Radio and easily connected it to the board with a stereo mini plug to L/R rca cable. Surprisingly, I had never done this before and usually just use an iPod or a laptop to supply the background music. In my opinion, it was pretty cool to be able to utilize a ‘custom station’ that I had personalized over time to perfectly set the mood with the exact vibe and ultimately, this streaming method reduced the amount of “gear’ I had to bring or worry about charging, etc….

I wonder how many other sound engineers are using their smartphones like this and what their experiences are like? For my initial test, the sound quality was excellent and my AT&T 3G connection worked flawlessly!

And no disrespect intended, but now I wonder if the venue's ASCAP/BMI license would actually pay the artists I streamed for this type of usage? I know that Slacker has to pay Sound Exchange for the non-interactive royalty rates, but what about the "performance" aspect of rebroadcasting internet radio in public? Who pays for that and how does that money find it's way back to the artist who wrote, performed or published the song??