In mid-June, we reported that Rep. Jay Inslee's (D-WA, 1) webcaster bill was on its way to President Obama's desk. The bill tabled a one-size fits all royalty agreement (that would have killed small webcasters) and cleared the way for a new, customized agreement.

Obama signed the bill on June 30.

And voila: Today, just a week later, the webcasters and the record industry reached a royalty deal that will differentiate between indie webcasters and bigger media companies, allowing the indies to survive (while also getting cash to the artists).

The NYT reports on the breaking news:

The new agreement treats sites differently depending on their size and business model. It applies to the period from 2006 through 2015 for big sites and through 2014 for small sites. The sites in question often provide customized streams of music, but listeners do not get to directly choose which songs they hear, and they are not permitted to store the music on their computers.

Webcasters with significant advertising revenue, like Pandora, will pay the greater of 25 percent of revenue or a fee per song, starting at .08 cent for songs streamed in 2006 and increasing to .14 cent in 2015.

Webcasters also agreed to give more detailed information about the songs they play and how many people listen to them to SoundExchange, the nonprofit organization that collects and distributes digital royalties on behalf of artists and labels. They must also retain records of activity on their Web servers for four years.

Small sites with less than $1.25 million in revenue will pay 12 to 14 percent of it for the right to stream music. All stations will be required to pay an annual minimum fee of $25,000, which they can apply to their royalty payments.

Historic footnote: Rep. Inslee's bill is the first bill ushered through Congress by someone from the Washington state delegation to get President Obama's signature.