Royalty Deal Saves Pandora, Others
By Jared Newman
Good news for Pandora, the Internet radio station that creates playlists based on your musical tastes: An agreement on royalty rates means it and other stations like it have secured a future. SoundExchange, a group that collects royalties, has agreed to a 40 percent to 50 percent reduction in per-song, per-listener rates, so long as Pandora gives up 25 percent of its revenue. One caveat: Users who listen to more than 40 hours in a month must pony up $1 to keep listening, though premium paid users can listen a much as they want. The cost of one iTunes track in exchange for unlimited music seems like a fair trade, I think. Three cheers for the music industry, for not killing an awesome idea. [via TechCrunch]
