It's a rough time to be in the online music business with Pandora seeming close to extinction, and other Web radio companies in jeopardy if SoundExchange manages to get royalty rates for Web airplay raised.

Muxtape has apparently already had a run-in with the RIAA, and is currently down while it "sorts out a problem with the RIAA." The latest competitor to Muxtape is 8tracks, which has a similar model to Muxtape, although the tracks on each mix aren't listed individually. 8tracks swears it's completely legal based on royalty payments and using the compulsory license for webcasting in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. With Muxtape on the ropes and Pandora in trouble, are 8tracks and other music services worried?

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

• Prediction: Pandora cheats death, converts to subscription model
• News: The outlook for Pandora looks grim
• News: Tweens, teens increasingly turn to MySpace, iTunes, and P2P networks for music