Entertainment
Pandora to Appeal Ruling That Could Raise Royalty Costs
Tim Westergren and other Pandora execs ring the NYSE opening bell to celebrate the company’s IPO at the New York Stock Exchange in June 2011.
(Richard Drew/AP)
Rob Golum and Joel Rosenblatt, BLOOMBERG
(Bloomberg) — Pandora Media Inc. said it plans to appeal a federal court ruling that could lead to higher royalty costs for the Internet radio company.
Pandora said in an e-mailed statement that the decision, stemming from a licensing dispute with Broadcast Music Inc., could increase its content costs as a percent of revenue by as much as 80 basis points.
The ruling comes two years after U.S. District Judge Louis L. Stanton in Manhattan ruled Pandora may not have access to songs that music publishers no longer want to be included under Internet licenses with BMI. According to Pandora, the judge rejected its request for a ruling that the scope of its license with the group shouldn’t be affected by publishers’ efforts to modify their contracts to no longer include Internet streaming.
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