Pandora Becomes Radio Station Owner to Pay Lower Royalties

KXMZ-FM in Rapid City, South Dakota is a traditional small town radio station in every sense other than it is now owned by Pandora Media, the world’s largest Internet radio company. Pandora acquired KXMZ for $600,000 in order to pay the lower royalty rates assigned to radio station owners (such as iHeartMedia). “Pandora is headed into uncharted territory,” said Matthew Schettenhelm, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “But there’s no legal reason that other entities like Apple or Spotify couldn’t try to do the same.” The move is the latest in an ongoing royalty battle between music creators and Internet companies, notes Bloomberg, and will likely trigger additional litigation.

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