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Pandora stops streaming to UK
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 9th January 2008
A familiar sight to many, but one which UK listeners will be unable to see from next week.
The switch-off date for UK listeners is the 15th of January 2008.
The Pandora service uses data from the Music Genome Project to recommend songs from other artists based on whether you liked songs it considers 'similar'. Many in the US see it as a valuable way of being introduced to new artists, and musicians enjoy the free advertising offered by such streaming radio stations. Despite this, it seems that the industry, in the UK at least, isn't quite so keen on ad-driven 'net radio.
Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora, has placed the blame for the closure on the doorsteps of UK rights organisations like the PPL and the MCPS-PRS Alliance.
In an e-mail to members Tim has said that the per-song licensing costs demanded by the organisations are “far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate”, and that the company has “been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable.”
Tim claims that the music industry in the UK isn't prepared to work constructively “to support the growth of services that introduce listeners to new music and that are totally supportive of paying fair royalties to the creators of music.” He says the decision to price services like Pandora out of the UK market is “nothing short of disastrous” for the artists represented by the rights organisations and predicts that preventing legitimate, legal sites like Pandora from operating in the UK will result in the “continued explosion of piracy, the continued constriction of opportunities for working musicians, and a worsening drought of new music for fans.”
The company is also facing troubles in the US, with rising royalty rates for web radio services seeing any slim profit margin the company can scrape out of on-site advertising vanishing into the mists. Tim predicts that if the cost of licensing a web-based radio service in the US doesn't reduce it “would mean the end of Pandora.”
Sad to see the service go, or do you think 'net radio was never a viable business model? Give us your thoughts over in the forums.
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The global music industry seems intent on shooting itself in the foot at every opportunity.
We're attempting to fight back and a petition has been submitted at the Prime Minister's No.10 website (300 signatures and counting). We're hoping that it will gather enough support (and attention) to force the government to get involved or embarrass the record industry into working with webcasters like Pandora.
Lazarus is right, the reality is that the whole licensing system for UK Internet radio needs another overhaul (ironically, it had one in 2006, but look what they come up with!).
It needs to be allowed to become competitive with analogue and it needs to reflect the way in which contemporary music fans want to listen to music.
Here's the link for the petition:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveNetRadioUK/
N.B You'll need to be UK citizen to sign.
Incidentally, Tim wasn't kidding when he wrote that the rates "are far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate". I interviewed Tim last year and he estimated that the MCPS-PRS alone was demanding 45 per cent of the gross revenue made by any UK operations. Meanwhile, the PPL hadn't even decided how much to charge his kind of internet radio.
Personally, I hope common sense and economic sense prevails. The MCPS-PRS has just lost its clients a serious amount of royalty money. If I were them I'd be baying for blood.
There's also a facebook group set up called 'Save Pandora, Save Net Radio', so people can keep in touch with progress and show support.
Cheers,
Chris "Ari" Thornett
If people are willing to spend the time setting up proxies so they can get services like Pandora, then just spare the time to sign a petition that's actually attempting to change the stupid royalty system.
It's simple, just sign here.
I'm not knocking the petition, far from from it, just showing people a way around it while this mess is sorted out.
From personal experience in dealing with the PRS, MCPS etc, this is just going to go round in circles.
6 years ago we spoke with the governing bodies regarding a Digital Audio Performance License allowing DJ's and Venues to even be able to have this equipment on site without fear of having the PRS send in the legal team.
We have a signed letter from the MCPS granting us almost a "Free-For-All" allowing us to pretty much play what we liked, when we liked and too who we liked without fear of retribution, of course we had to state that the system was being demonstrated.
We even had Nicky Holloway (Remember him?) working with us.
The ultimate problem is these governing bodies are playing against each other over who has control, it's like a school playground.
And don't be fooled by the so called "Alliance" this is just shear bullshit ;)
From Austria i give www.globalpandora.com a try as it is a no-brainer.
All the best,
Anton Ost
is www.globalpandora.com like pandora? if it is..... holly mother of God, how the f*** do they want to kill something beautiful like this?