Pandora settles with ASCAP, Broadcast Music after music royalties ruling

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By Larry Banks

Internet music service Pandora was until today licensing its songs from two groups at rates set by the US District Court in Manhattan which had intervened because those involved could not agree rates. Pandora had sued ASCAP back in 2012 to get the rates lowered, and Broadcast Music sued Pandora a year rated trying to get the rates increased.

That request was granted earlier this year, leading to an appeal by Pandora. However with the new agreement settled on, the appeal has since been withdrawn.

Agreements were possible after a ruling last week by the Copyright Royalty Board which said that rates for Internet music streaming should be raised. Ad-services will from next month have to pay a minimum of 17 cents per 100 streams and paid subscriptions will account for 22 cents for the same traffic. Pandora already pays 25 cents for its premium Pandora One subscribers.

In the last few years, royalties for music streaming have become a sticking point as more people opt to subscribe to all-you-can-eat services rather than buying CDs. Artists meanwhile have complained that they can’t make an income from streaming, and the more well-off among those have even boycotted services they believe don’t pay high enough royalty rates.

Taylor Swift is perhaps the most well known example, who withdrew the vast amount of her catalogue from Spotify and threatened Apple with the same treatment – that is, unless the company paid royalties for streaming for users in the Apple Music trial. The company changed its mind in a day or two after Swift made the threat…

SOURCE: AppleInsider.

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