Congress Kind of Saves Internet Radio

I don't know how many people use Pandora, but I find it to be an excellent music streaming service. It's an outgrowth of the Music Genome Project, an undertaking to figure out what properties link different kinds of music together to better understand both music and our genre tastes. The idea is pretty simple - put in an artist you like, and Pandora creates a radio station based around that and similar artists. If you like a song, they provide links to online stores like iTunes and Amazon so you can buy it. Seems like a pretty decent idea - allowing people to listen only to music they like while exposing them to new artists they might not otherwise have discovered. I know I've discovered a number of excellent artists this way.

Not content with the free promotion, the music industry has been trying to get Pandora to pay exorbitant royalty fees each time a song is played. Of course, with the number of songs a service like Pandora is playing at any given time, the costs quickly go through the roof. This demand from the music industry has threatened to kill Pandora and other similar music streaming services.

In an effort to save themselves, Pandora has been in negotiations with the music industry to pay not per-song royalties, but a percentage of their overall profits. It seems like a lousy deal, but it might just be enough to save the service. Unfortunately, the deadline to "pay up" was approaching faster than the talks, a plight that was recently delayed by an act of Congress. Far from settling anything, the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 gives them more time to reach a decision. Let's hope the music industry can stop shooting itself in the foot long enough to reach a deal with these valuable 21st century services. In the meantime, enjoy Pandora.