Terrestrial broadcasters aren’t the only ones expanding their use of direct licensing with music rights groups. Streamer Pandora announced it has signed direct licensing agreements for recorded music with Merlin Network, Sony Music and Universal Music Group, in addition to The Orchard and approximately 30 other independent labels and distributors also signing now. These agreements apply to the U.S. only.
These companies join ASCAP, BMI and approximately 2,700 publishers, who also have agreed to license their catalogs for Pandora’s pending subscription services.
The announcement stated that the deals will create “new revenue streams for artists and labels, while paving the way for Pandora to bring new products to market.”
Pandora CEO/founder Tim Westergren described this announcement as a collaborative attempt to “find a solution that would support artists while profitably growing our respective businesses.”