Pandora|Policy

Publication

Fans’ Embrace of Streaming Sustained Music During a Tumultuous Year. Why, and What Does it Mean for 2021

"The full-fledged consumer embrace of streaming helped avert a total collapse of the music business," writes DiMA President & CEO Garrett Levine in Music Business Worldwide

The music business in 2020 experienced an unprecedented cacophony of events. Live music businesses tragically shuttered. A virtual performance market emerging. Yet despite it all, music lived on through streaming as it continued to be embraced by nearly every American with an Internet connection, even in the face of a global health crisis and massive economic disruption.

This is not the only 2020 storyline in music, but it is certainly one of the more hopeful: the full-fledged consumer embrace of streaming helped avert a total collapse of the music business. As one analyst put it: “streaming remains resilient,” with “music industry revenues [holding up] relatively well compared to other industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth of digital streaming has allowed consumers to access and enjoy music regardless of social distancing restrictions.” …

The 2020 music streaming service is your record store, jukebox, speaker, FM radio station, mp3 collection, MTV, set of liner notes and smart music friend all wrapped together in one captivating experience. And critically, streaming services allow you to access all of that without leaving your home—a vitally important characteristic over the past year…

More than ever, I have grown to appreciate just how connected successes and failures are. Music’s resilience is impressive but not infallible.

We should be wary of rhetoric that essentially suggests burning the village in order to save it, or of proposals that ignore how the fundamental complexity of the business — including the balance of payouts to different rightsholders — contributes to the current economics for creators. Any honest reckoning of our business must examine what happens to the 69 cents of every dollar that digital music services pay to record companies, music publishers, and PROs.

For all of us who are part of the community supporting this artform that helped sustain us through this challenging year, our posture should be one of finding solutions and forging partnerships. That is ultimately the approach that resuscitated the music business from a decade-long decline, produced the durable foundation that helped sustain our community through this tumultuous time, and is one reason for continued optimism in the new year.

Read the full Music Business Worldwide op-ed from DiMA President & CEO Garrett Levine here

Publication

DiMA President & CEO: Critics of ASCAP and BMI Consent Decrees Are Missing the Point

"The decrees are not broken," writes Garrett Levin, president and CEO of digital services trade group DiMA.

Billboard
Garrett Levin

The U.S. Department of Justice recently convened a series of workshops to review “competition in licensing in public performance rights.” For a government agency considering seismic changes to music licensing laws, it was well-intentioned and an appropriate exercise. Regrettably, however, the conversation lacked the critical perspective of numerous voices, including the music streaming services and consumer advocates.

The discussion throughout the workshop, much like the larger ongoing conversation around music publishing reforms, repeatedly returned to calls for “modernizing” the Justice Department’s consent decrees that protect licensees and consumers from the anti-competitive effects of the two largest performing rights organizations (PROs) — ASCAP and BMI. The requests for “modernization” were virtually all premised on the need to address the innovations in music distribution made possible by digital music companies. Modernization is an important goal when outdated systems truly no longer work; as an industry we recognized that was the case in mechanical licensing and came together to pass the Music Modernization Act.

But let’s be very clear that the PRO consent decrees are not hindering the music industry or in need of modernization because they happen to have originated in the 1940s. The decrees aren’t unnecessary and outdated because they have been in place for decades. They have existed for decades precisely because of their ongoing value in ensuring fair and competitive access to music works. And they aren’t obsolete because of innovations in music distribution — improvements made possible because the consent decrees recognize that differences in distribution tech don’t equate to differences in licensing needs.

Read the full letter in Billboard here

 

Publication

SoundCloud Secures $75M Investment from Pandora Owner SiriusXM

Music Business Worldwide
Tim Ingham

SoundCloud has just announced that it has secured $75 million investment from SiriusXM – which, remember, acquired another leading music streaming platform, Pandora, last year in a $3.5bn all-stock transaction.

Publication

How SiriusXM Is Beating the Subscriber Paradox & Scoring a Better Return Than Streaming Services

Billboard
Glenn Peoples

Whether music or podcasts, on-demand listening is the greatest change to recorded music in the last decade. Yet satellite radio — launched before iTunes revolutionized how music is purchased — continues to thrive as streaming services flourish. SiriusXM’s 2019 earnings report, which dropped Tuesday, shows that the satellite radio service added 1 million subscribers and grossed $7.8 billion of revenue over the year.

Publication

Revisit 1,000 of the biggest and best classic rock tracks of all time on SiriusXM

SiriusXM Blog
SiriusXM Blog

Are you ready to rock? SiriusXM is counting down 1,000 of the most colossal classic rock jams in celebration of the eras that made the genre great. Tune in for the rock countdown to end all rock countdowns (the final countdown, if you will) and rediscover classic rock’s most crucial cuts with the Classic Rock Top 1,000 on Channel 30.

Publication

Biggest stars in sports & entertainment converge on SiriusXM for Super Bowl Week

SiriusXM Blog
SiriusXM Blog

SiriusXM is offering an exceptional week of programming for Super Bowl LIV in Miami Beach, including multiple live broadcasts of the game in seven languages, a dedicated Super Bowl LIV pop-up channel, plus a wide-ranging mix of sports, entertainment and music programming that will connect listeners with many of today’s biggest stars.

Publication

SiriusXM Goes Hollywood With The Help Of Dave Matthews, Billie Eilish, Howard Stern And More

Forbes
Steve Baltin

SiriusXM recently set up shop in Hollywood, building studios and their own venue for intimate live shows, “The Garage,” in a Hollywood high rise. To celebrate their expansion in L.A., the satellite radio behemoth, which now carries more than 100,000,000 subscribers and listeners after their merger with streaming service Pandora, held a series of special events around L.A.

Publication

Pandora’s revamped, more personailzed app rolls out for all users

TechCrunch
Sarah Perez

Pandora’s redesigned mobile app experience is today available to all users, following a limited rollout that began in October. The update expands on Pandora’s personalization capabilities with the addition of a new “For You” tab offering an entirely unique experience for each Pandora user, along with more station customization features, and other changes. Pandora hopes the features will help it better compete with rivals like Spotify and Apple Music in the months ahead.

Publication

John Legend Wows at Union Station Pop-Up Performance

NBC 4 Los Angeles
NBC 4 Los Angeles

People’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ serenaded some lucky fans, for free, with Christmas music.
Publication

Sway Calloway Partners With SiriusXM And Pandora For Inaugural Sway Fest 2019

AllHipHop News
Shirley Ju

Sway Calloway has been known to be one of the most well-respected hip-hop journalists and radio personalities to ever do it. Now, he’s taking his efforts to the next level: a whole festival under his name. For the first time, he will be teaming up with his home team SiriusXM and Pandora to launch the inaugural Sway Fest 2019.