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Tag: radio royalties

  • Pandora Royalty To Remain The Same

    Federal judge Denise Cote in New York has left the rate internet music giant Pandora must pay to songwriters essentially the same, according to reports. In a ruling handed down on Friday March 14, Cote ruled that Pandora must pay The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) a rate of 1.85 percent of revenue through 2015, a rate which Pandora had been paying for the previous three years.

    ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento issued a statement saying, “And today’s decision further demonstrates the need to review the entire regulatory structure, including the decades-old consent decrees that govern PRO licensing, to ensure they reflect the realities of today’s music landscape.”

    Internet radio, including streaming of music, has been growing in popularity in recent years. According to a press release on Pandora’s website, the metrics for the month of February reveal that Pandora’s total users has been growing significantly. Listener hours for the month of February were 1.5 billion, an increase of nine percent from the same period last year. In addition, active listeners totaled 75 million, up 11 percent from 68 million from the same period of the previous year.

    LoFrumento believes this growth is cause for a higher rate than 1.85 percent. “Streaming is growing in popularity – and so is the value of music on that platform. We are pleased the court recognized the need for Pandora to pay a higher rate than traditional radio stations. But recent agreements negotiated without the artificial constraints of a consent decree make clear that the market rate for Internet radio is substantially higher than 1.85%.”

    ASCAP, which is a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers, and music publishers of every kind of music, issued the statement ahead of the public ruling from judge Denise Cote, which will likely occur next week. For now, Pandora is declining comment until the public ruling of the case.

    In effect, the ruling seems like a draw between the two giant organizations. As ASCAP says, “While Judge Cote’s decision does not fully adopt the escalating rate structure that ASCAP had proposed, it also does not adopt Pandora’s argument that the 1.7% RMLC rate should apply to Pandora.”

    Image via http://blog.pandora.com/

  • Pandora Lobbies to Equalize Broadcast Royalties in the Radio Industry

    Pandora Lobbies to Equalize Broadcast Royalties in the Radio Industry

    As it stands right now, newer radio broadcast stations like pandora and other internet-based services, pay more in broadcast royalties than more conventional FM broadcasters, who actually pay nothing. This year alone, Pandora has spent over $50,000 addressing this issue and lobbying congress.

    The company has maintained their focus on congress as they will be meeting with the Copyright Royalty Board in the near future, to determine royalty policy for the period between 2016 and 2020. Pandora co-founder, Tim Westergren will testify before congress to plead his case today.

    Tim Westergren, Pandora’s co-founder, comments on broadcast royalties in his written testimony prepared for a congressional hearing today:

    “Now I am fully supportive of fair compensation for artists,”

    “But this lack of a level playing field is fundamentally unfair and indefensible.”

    “It is time for Congress to level the playing field and to approach radio royalties in a technology neutral manner,”

    Just for reference, Pandora paid 50% of its revenues last year to recording artists, Sirius/XM paid a total of 7.5%, and traditional AM/FM broadcast paid nothing! I would say that’s a huge discrepancy. No wonder the recording industry is hurting, nobody’s paying them any royalties. This issue needs to be addressed.

    We will keep you updated on what the United States Congress and the Copyright Royalty Board decides about future royalty payments from broadcast radio. Hopefully they will agree on a fee more reflective of the times we live in and more just to recording artists and broadcasters alike.