IN “HISTORIC MOMENT” FOR MUSIC, PANDORA STANDS DOWN

BOWING TO PUBLIC PRESSURE, INTERNET RADIO GIANT ABANDONS LEGISLATION THAT WOULD LOWER MUSIC ROYALTIES

Text by “ARTIST & ECR MUSIC GROUP FOUNDER”  Blake Morgan

Dear Friends,

It is with sincere pleasure that I can report some great news for music makers and music lovers alike.

In a Billboard Magazine article released just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Internet radio giant Pandora announced they have given up and are officially abandoning their efforts to seek legislation that would reduce the royalties paid to rights holders.

In what is being called “a historic moment” for the music industry, Pandora is standing down on the “Internet Radio Fairness Act,” an act which would have deeply impacted the way artists and music creators are paid for digital radio plays.

This has been brewing for a couple of weeks, and it’s clear that Pandora tried to bury the headline in the holiday news cycle. For each of us in this fight however, it’s really an early holiday gift––and most importantly, a substantive victory in the battle for royalty fairness.

Though other fights surely lie ahead, Billboard states: “legislation to change webcasting royalties is dead without ­Pandora’s support.”

What’s more, RIAA chairman and CEO Cary Sherman says “The op-ed articles, public statements, advertisements, email blasts and social media efforts ‘clearly moved the needle.'”

That’s right, that means you.

If you spoke up about this, if you posted about it on Facebook or Tweeted about it to your friends, if you added your voice to the courageous chorus who stood up and spoke out, you helped win this fight.

This victory belongs to you.

Onward. Yours, in music…