Pandora is getting it in the neck again over royalties – this time from the founder of distribution firm CD Baby. In an op-ed for TechCrunch, Derek Sivers points out that Pandora only pays “barely four percent” of its revenues out to songwriters, and lays in to the company’s attempts to reduce its royalties further – including its infamous acquisition of a South Dakota FM radio station in order to qualify for a lower licensing rate. “Pandora ought to be on the frontlines with songwriters, working towards a solution – not standing in the way of meaningful reform,” wrote Sivers. “By undercutting songwriters, Pandora’s approach to music licensing is not just self-serving, but shortsighted – and this is something its shareholders need to hear.” But that may be one of the key problems here: going above and beyond the call of duty to recompense creators isn’t necessarily something that Wall Street will respect – Pandora is caught between the two camps.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…