Will 2016 be the crux of streamed media? Pandora believes so.
12/28/2015, Max Zettler

In a heated battle taking place over many years, digitally streamed media (including music, movies, television and games) have steadily gained popularity in the way we consume content over the past decade.

Last week, a mutual licensing agreement between ASCAP, BMI, and Pandora Music Services was completed, closing the gap between newer streaming services and more standard performance royalty collection agencies. With this new agreement, Pandora plans to diversify the way music streaming can be conscious and personalized based on a user’s habits, favorite genres, and can feed suggestions for new music.

With mass information and data input from users, or “meta-data,” royalty distributions have become somewhat of a messy endeavor. Streaming services other than Pandora have enumerated, creating more “micro-transactions” (royalties collected from streaming that are under 5 cents). With a licensing deal between ASCAP and BMI, the two largest royalty collection agencies in the United States, meta-data can now be exchanged freely, furthering the performance organizations’  goals of delivering the most accurate royalties.

In return, Pandora will now have more flexibility when it comes to licensed music and expanding their business model. It also modernizes compensation for songwriters and publishers.

“This agreement is good news for music fans and music creators, who are the heart and soul of ASCAP, and a sign of progress in our ongoing push for improved streaming payments for songwriters, composers and music publishers that reflect the immense value of our members’ creative contributions,” said ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews.

In addition, BMI President Mike O’Neill also touted the good news:

“Not only is our new agreement comparable to the other direct deals in the marketplace, but it also allows us to amicably conclude our lengthy rate court litigation and focus on what drives each of our businesses — the music.”

In addition, Pandora is supplementing this landmark agreement with other direct deals between large music publishers such as “Downtown Music,” “Sony/ATV.” and “SONGS Music Publishing.”

With these new advancements in the music industry, it looks like streaming services may have finally turned a corner when it comes to being “artist friendly.” Lets hope the trend continues.

______________________________________________________________

SOURCE MATERIAL:

Christman, Ed. “Pandora Signs Mutually Beneficial Licensing Deals With ASCAP, BMI.” Billboard. N.p., 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.

“Pandora Signs Licensing Agreements with ASCAP and BMI.”Www.ascap.com. N.p., 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.