Pandora Reaches $90 Million Settlement with Record Labels over Oldies

Pandora Media Inc. will pay $90 million to record labels to settle a dispute over oldies, it was reported today.

The agreement with the labels -- Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Capitol Records and ABKCO Music & Records -- resolves yet another major battle over royalties for recordings made before 1972, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The deal comes about four months after satellite radio provider Sirius XM said it would pay the record companies $210 million to resolve a similar case from 2013, according to The Times.

The labels’ suit against Pandora -- an Oakland-based Internet radio giant -- was filed in April last year.

Cary Sherman, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, called the settlement “a significant milestone and a big win for the music community,” The Times reported. It does not give Pandora a license for future use of pre-1972 recordings, but it does give the streaming service legal cover through the end of 2016 to work out deals with the labels.

City News Service