SteelRadio.com Shutting Down

December 29, 2016 • Addison Ching • News

One of the Internet's radio stations and perhaps the only one dedicated to playing steel guitar music on a regular basis is shutting down. Social media posts by station celebrities Debbie Connors and Lana Higgins Rosselli intimated about their last broadcasts in the final days of 2016.

According to station announcer Debbie Connor, the station will cease broadcasting at midnight, December 31, 2016. Debbie herself has always wanted to do a show dedicated specifically to Hawaiian music but sponsorship could never be arranged. Those who attended the Maui Steel Guitar Festival in 2014 may recall Debbie as the on-air host for the duration of the festival, which was broadcast live on the Internet by steelradio.com. The station also carried the festival in its entirety in 2015, with station owner Michael Scott and station announcer Lana Rosselli as hosts. Both festivals were rebroadcast on the Internet station after the festivals concluded.

Michael Scott, owner of SteelRadio.com, says that he has no choice but to close his station because of pay-to-play fees imposed by ASCAP, as non-payment of these fees could result in fines upwards of $175,000. On the other side, Scott is of the opinion that while ASCAP requires stations like his to pay ASCAP licensing fees, ASCAP may not, in turn, be redistributing royalties to the owners of original works registered with ASCAP.

Lana Higgins Rosselli, another SteelRadio.com personality, posted this on Facebook: "Be sure to tune in tomorrow beginning around 11:25pm, a marathon of shows from each of the DJs. At 11:29pm December 31, 2016, SteelRadio.com will sign off."

Photo Credits:
Photo 1 - SteelRadio.com Logo. SteelRadio.com
Photo 2 - Debbie Connor. pc-Colleen Ricci
Photo 3 - Michael Scott and Lana Higgins Rosselli. pc-Addison Ching