Billy Joel, Rihanna Fight Music Streaming Site Pandora Over Royalties
Billy Joel and Rihanna are part of a massive group of recording artists taking a stand against music streaming website Pandora and the way the company pays royalties to musicians.
Joel and Rihanna are just two of a total of 125 artists who are part of the musicFIRST Coalition. The group stands in protest against the Internet Radio Fairness Act, a bill making its way through Congress that would dictate details about how online music streaming royalties are paid out.
The musicFIRST Coalition outlines its views and complaints against Pandora in an open letter set to be published in this weekend's issue of Billboard Magazine.
"Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon?" the musicians' statement said. "That's not fair and that's not how partners work together."
The group's statement blasts Pandora directly and makes harsh comments about the company's claim it is hurt financially by the current system for compensating artists, all while Pandora collects massive profits.
"The truth is that Pandora's dishonest proposal would be devastating to music creators," the open letter said. "And while Pandora's misleading campaign claims that Pandora is suffering under the current, fair system of compensation, nothing could be further from the truth. Pandora is expected to clear $600 million in revenues next year under the current system, and has seen year to year revenue growth that would be the envy of many businesses and families in this time of slow economic growth."
For its part, Pandora has posted a message to its website regarding the legislation in which the company defends its position on the issue.
"The current law penalizes new media and is astonishingly unfair to Internet radio," Pandora's statement said. "We are asking for our listeners' support to help end the discrimination against Internet radio. It's time for Congress to stop picking winners, level the playing field and establish a technology-neutral standard."
