Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren spoke before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, arguing that Internet radio is subjected to unfair royalty fees.
When Westergren spoke before the committee last year, he explained that Pandora feeds 50 percent of revenues back to artists in performance fees, while Sirius Satellite Radio only pays 7 percent.
Westergren describes this as an unfair playing field and notes that Congress should “approach radio royalties in a technology neutral manner.”
“According to the account that Westergren gave me, the criteria for setting royalty rates in broadcast, satellite, and Internet radio were all determined at different times,” reports TechCrunch. “So when Pandora is making the case for lower loyalty rates, even the arguments that it can use are limited. For example, he says even though Pandora is ‘a massive driver of sales’ for iTunes and Amazon… it’s not allowed to offer that data as evidence. Satellite radio companies, on the other hand, can.”
Westergren does not expect immediate results, but does note that since most “members on the Hill use Pandora or some form of Internet radio” he remains optimistic about their desire to protect the brand in the future.
Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren spoke before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, arguing that Internet radio is subjected to unfair royalty fees.
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