I have written extensively about the efforts of the recording industry to squeeze blood from the streaming music industry stone by attempting to get allies in Congress and the White House to increase the royalty rate paid by streaming companies like Pandora , Apple ([stock_quote symbol=”AAPL”]), Amazon.com ([stock_quote symbol=”AMZN”]), Spotify, Google ([stock_quote symbol=”GOOGL”]) Play Music, and other companies. The battle royale over the future of music streaming has taken a strange and potentially dangerous turn over the past month.

By the end of the year, the Copyright Royalties Board (CRB) at the Library of Congress will determine the new royalty rate streamers will have to pay record labels and artists. The CRB has been charged under statute to “establish rates and terms that most clearly represent the rates and terms that would have been negotiated in the marketplace between a willing buyer and a willing seller.” An attempt by a federal agency to set rates that accurately mimic what a competitive marketplace would yield is no easy task, however the CRB has before it approximately 30 privately negotiated royalty agreements between streamers (willing buyers) and record labels (willing sellers). These voluntary, in-market deals provide a roadmap to what the price of music should be.