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Home » Recent News » Pandora Reaches Settlement with Labels


Pandora Reaches Settlement with Labels

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Pandora Reaches Settlement with Labels —Internet radio service Pandora announced a $90 million settlement with three major record labels—Sony, Universal, and Warner—over royalties for older songs. The settlement follows a similar $210 million deal between the labels and Sirius XM back in June.

Pandora was sued last year for nonpayment of recording royalties for older (pre-1972) songs. “Major settlements with Sirius XM and now Pandora means that an iconic generation of artists, and the labels that supported them, will be paid for the use of their creative works,” Cary Sherman, the chief of the Recording Industry Association of America, says in a statement.

Pandora and Sirius XM still face class action suits from former band members of the Turtles, as well as problems with music publishers in regards to songwriting copyrights. Pandora says it was taking a $23.9 million charge in its third-quarter results, representing the difference between the rates it had wished to pay and its deals with the licensing agencies ASCAP and BMI.

For its third quarter, Pandora reported its revenue had increased 30% from a year ago to $311.6 million. However, its label settlement and write-down of royalties contributed to a net loss of $85.9 million, compared with a loss of a little more than $2 million last year.







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