Idolator
Last week, SoundExchange, the organization that collects performance royalties on behalf of music's copyright owners, offered a slight reprieve to radio stations, saying that it would hold off collecting the per-channel payout of $500—which would result in "personalized radio" sites like Pandora paying the organization a huge chunk of money—until 2008. But is SoundExchange offering this stay of execution for strategic reasons? The founder of "extremely independent" streaming-radio outlet SomaFM thinks so. From Listening Post:
SoundExchange is only offering webcasters an 18-month reprieve from the minimum fees that would be required by impending online radio royalty rates because it secretly hopes that during that time, Pandora will be acquired by Google — according to Rusty Hodge, founder of listener-supported SomaFM.
In an email sent to Listening Post, he wrote,
"The likely outcome that SoundExchange is hoping for is for Pandora to be acquired by Google in the next 18 months, since it will be hard for Google to say they can't afford the new, higher rates. (Shades of YouTube)."
A sign of acquisitions to come—or some Internet bubble-style slash designed to pep up a holiday-truncated week? Tips welcome, of course.
SomaFM Founder: SoundExchange Wants Google to Buy Pandora [Listening Post]
Comments
Rusty, you crack me up. is there a reason you didn't bring this up at the FMC technology & IP day? oh yeah wait. IT'S TOTALLY INSANE.
believe me, SX is so far removed from (any/every)thing going on in the valley, they would be the absolute Last people to hear about the big G acquiring pandora.
Sorry, but that idea is retarded.
If anything, Sound Exchange would be praying that Google NEVER gets near the desire to litigate and lobby on behalf of less royalties.
If Google owned Pandora, you could guarantee that SoundExchange would be picked apart, potentially dragged into court and eventually capitulate to Google. They'd be a much bigger voice than broke-ass webcasters and public radio stations as far as implementing significant change would go. I'd suspect that it would all but doom SoundExchange, not give them some secret cache of money.
Google pulls in 10 billion a year on its own. The entire worldwide music industry can only muster 20 billion spread across hundreds of companies. All Google would have to do is start picking them apart, much like they've been doing with YouTube and their individual agreements with copyright holders.
Google would be the worst nightmare for SoundExchange and the RIAA in general if they turned their sights towards what's wrong with the music industry, for sure.
So does this mean that we should all be rooting for Google to acquire Pandora?
(assuming that that would in fact be the RIAA's "worst nightmare")
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