Pandora, the automated music recommendation and internet radio service, is doing great but still faces the threat of a closedown. It is one of the top 10 apps used by iPhone owners and the company has managed to hold its own inspite of the slow economy. However high royalty fees imposed last year by the US Copyright Royalty Board could sound the death knell for not just Pandora but internet radio as a whole. Already Pandora is no longer available to listeners outside the US because of licensing constraints and Pandora is offering a refund to all registered users outside the US.
The injustice of it all is that traditional broadcasters pay no royalty to the copyright holders and satellite radio pays very little. What internet radio stations are being asked to pay is more than 200% of what they are paying now. The per song stream price is being raised to $0.19.
For a company like Pandora it means losing 70% of its revenue to paying this cost.
Here is what Tim Westergreen, the founder of Pandora, has to say on the issue.
tinyComb is running a signature campaign to help independent music broadcasters such as Pandora stay alive. So do your bit, sign up and be heard for lower streaming rates for online radio.
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