TW: Yeah I do, I do. I mean, I'm a musician. One of the big challenges for a musician is, "What do you create that people will want to acquire or buy? What's your transaction?" You do need something. I think people still want to own something physical. It will be some percent of people; it won't always be everybody. But I think some people will always want something physical, or at least some representation of music. But it's not going to be as much as it was before. It's going to be a challenge.
The Daily: Do you worry that the end of traditional radio could also bring the end of the radio DJ personality?
TW: Yeah, but I would like to find a way to bring them into Pandora, frankly. I think those people are really important as well, and we're certainly not helping their cause.
The Daily: Does every single artist featured on Pandora get paid when their song pops up on someone's station?
TW: Yes, it's a percent of the revenue. We pay a fraction of a penny per song for publishing and performance, to the songwriters and the performers. And once our revenue grows enough, we will be paying artists whichever is higher - a certain minimum or a percent of the revenue.
The Daily: Right now Pandora is illegal to use outside of the U.S. What stands in the way of Pandora being legal everywhere?
TW: Licensing, licensing. We operate in the U.S. under a statutory law, and that is not available in any other country. So no other country has actually put that one-stop licensing in place. So as soon as they do that, we are going to be able to jump right in, hopefully this year.
d-head@northwestern.edu
Spring Break
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Jes Webb
posted 5/07/08 @ 5:59 PM CST
I wish Pandora well. Two days ago I tried it out and went to this article because of that. I would argue that it could be the best online radio experience to date. (Continued…)
Laura
posted 5/07/08 @ 9:52 PM CST
I am a Pandora user and I recently stumbled upon Muxtape.com. While you can't shape your playlists according to music that already suits your tastes, Muxtape is comprised of entirely user-uploaded music, therefore introducing a lot more in the way of musical variety than what I've found at Pandora. (Continued…)
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