
Pandora now pushing radio to pay for music - soundsop
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/pandora-now-pushing-radio-to-pay-for-music-too.ars
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ramidarigaz
While I sympathize with the artists (not the labels), I also sympathize with
the broadcasters. I have a few friends in the music broadcasting business, and
I know how hard they struggle to stay afloat. They might be able to make small
payments per song, but they make very little on advertising (from what I've
heard, I can't actually quote numbers).

They might be able to deal with small royalty fees, but anything drastic would
bring down nearly all small stations.

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RK
Radio stations don't get to play copyrighted music for free. Traditional radio
stations have to pay license fees that go to the copyright holder of the songs
(writers and composers or whoever has acquired those rights), but not
performers. Companies like ASCAP administer this for them.

<http://www.ascap.com/licensing/radio/radiofaq.html>

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codeodor
The article is wrong there. But I was under the impression they pay a lot less
than internet radio, based on what I've read surrounding this case.

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paul9290
I would like to get pandora through my car stereo, as well as other Internet
music services. The set up/radio should look no different then what is in cars
now. Just let me hit a dial and it takes me to my pandora, last.fm and etc
music services and to my account.

You can connect and iPhone to your car stereo and enjoy Pandora now, but that
is not as intuitive and safe as how car stereos have been for decades.

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andyking
Even in densely-populated European countries, 3G network coverage isn't
anywhere near good enough to allow this sort of thing.

FM (and DAB) radio will be around for a very long time - they're simply the
most efficient way of delivering music and radio programming to large numbers
of people across a wide area.

It works for you now because about three people and a dog are doing it, but if
even a fraction of the audience of an average regional FM radio station
started to stream their personal Pandora / Last.fm accounts or listen to on-
demand programming over the 3G network instead, it would very quickly reach
capacity.

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paul9290
Well Verizon and AT&T now own the spectrum that was once used for analog TV.
LTE should be able to sustain and provide the level of bandwidth needed for
this.

A Clear channel or iBiquity (HD radio which is boring and needs a Pandora to
jump start it) could be potential buyers of Pandora. I would say those who
invested are looking at such entities as potential buyers. Also, another
potential reason why Pandora is jumping onto RIAA ship saying clear channel
should pay the same rates.

It may not be feasible now with 3G, but 4G and other future wireless options
will be.

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GTanaka
Though the per-song cost for Pandora is very hard on their business model, is
their support of the same for traditional radio anything but hypocritical?

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DarkShikari
If Pandora has to pay per song, why shouldn't traditional radio?

The hypocrisy is on the part of the music industry, not Pandora.

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sachinag
Oh, I'm _sure_ the music industry loves that U.S. terrestrial radio doesn't
pay performance fees. I bet they also love it when we do their promotion for
them by sharing iTunes playlists with our dorm/neighborhood/company.

Look, I get that the internet is TEH FUTURE and all the old distribution
channels are dumb and old. I get it. But there are _reasons_ for why things
are the way they are. And to say that the record labels are in cahoots with
the radio stations is insane. The record labels _hate_ that, by an accident of
history, U.S. terrestrial radio doesn't pay performance fees (they do pay
mechanical royalties to songwriters). More:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=698651>

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warfangle
Yes, record labels hate the fact that they're tethered to Clear Channel in so
many ways (not only do they own most of the major radio stations, mind you,
they also own most of the large concert venues and billboards). I've been sort
of flabbergasted that they haven't been more behind internet radio and the
like - it's a way for them to get out from under the thumb of Clear Channel.

