No question Pandora is the most run program on all of my computers. The internet radio station that only plays the kind of music that I like is uncanny in its ability to determine what music fits my tastes. I have discovered more new music and especially indie artists by listening to Pandora than all other ways combined. It is with total indignation that I read in the Washington Post today an interview with Pandora’s founder, Tim Westergren, who admits that Pandora is near its "last stand" as a result of the organization that represents musicians raising their royalties once again.

Pandora is due to pay 70% of its revenue in royalties this year, a percentage far more than either conventional broadcast radio or satellite radio. Conventional radio pays no royalties at all as a matter of fact. Webcasters currently have to pay a royalty for every song played and for each listener they have. Pandora will pay $17 million of their $25 million in revenue this year and Westergren says that there’s just no sense in continuing when the business model is so broken. Pandora already can’t have listeners in most countries outside the US due to silly RIAA rules which is also crazy. There is no better way for new artists to be discovered which in the long run benefits artists and record companies. What a shame.
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