Is Pandora Scamming Artists? Pink Floyd Says, 'Yes' ? WCBS-FM ...

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Record sales have been on a steady decline for more than a decade: file sharing and streaming services have been the main culprits. The former has been the focus of lawsuits and headlines, but it?s the latter that has quietly crept into the consciousness of artists making their music available to services like Pandora, Spotify, Last.fm and the like. Artists like the Black Keys have declined to let their most recent record?the critically acclaimed and Grammy Award winning El Camino?from being available on Spotify and other streaming services, saying it?s not a viable, profitable option.

The most recent gripe between artist and online radio has proved to be the lone galvanizing motive for Pink Floyd, a band whose surviving members haven?t put differences aside for more than 30 years?aside from their all-too-brief reunion at Live 8 in 2005.

Pink Floyd collectively submitted an op-ed piece to USA Today, accusing Pandora of using tricks to fool artists to agree to an 85% slash in the royalties they receive. Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason have singled out the service for their support of the Internet Radio Fairness Act of 2012,?the IRFA died in committee?which called for the drastic cut.

?For almost all working musicians, it?s also a question of economic survival. Nearly 90% of the artists who get a check for digital play receive less than $5,000 a year,? the members said in the piece. ?They cannot afford the 85% pay cut Pandora asked Congress to impose on the music community.?

WCBS-FM afternoon drive jock ?Broadway? Bill Lee agrees with Pink Floyd?s assessment of Pandora?s action. ?Waters (along with Gilmour and Mason) is well within his rights to make that claim,? says Lee. ?Even though Pandora isn?t turning a profit yet, based on their stock performance, they certainly will be in the future.?

Pink Floyd also pointed out that Pandora?notably founder Tim Westergren?was emailing artists ?asking them to ?be part of a conversation? about the music business and sign a simple ?letter of support? for Internet radio.? A copy of such a letter between Westergren and New York-based musician Blake Morgan was published on the Huffington post: it includes Morgan?s disapproving response and the continued exchange between the two.

Pandora released their own statement, respectfully denying Pink Floyd?s claims. ?Unfortunately, they have been given badly misleading information ? the result of a well-orchestrated campaign by the RIAA and their lobbying arm to mislead and agitate artists,? the statement reads. It continues, saying the accusation that Pandora supports an 85% cut are ?? simply not true? and that ?Pandora is by far the highest paying form of radio in the world and proudly pays both songwriters and performers.?

Pandora?s statement proceeds to call into question Pink Floyd?s source for this 85% cut in royalties, saying the Internet Radio Fairness Act doesn?t mention specific rates?which it does not.

But musicFIRST, a coalition whose aim ?is to ensure music creators get fair pay for their work everywhere it is played,? pointed out that Westergren and Pandora currently pay a 50% royalty rate but wishes to make the cut to 8%: the same as satellite radio. After crunching the numbers, the drop from 50% to 8% is roughly the same as an 85% cut, which is pointed out by this infographic.

Pink Floyd?s battle with Pandora is just the beginning of what looks to be a lengthy conflict, especially with continuing advances in the digital age that sees businesses looking to continually pad their pockets while artists pursue their fair shake of revenue.

- E.J. Judge, CBS Local

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Source: http://wcbsfm.cbslocal.com/2013/06/27/is-pandora-scamming-artists-pink-floyd-says-yes/

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