Superstar Pharrell made just pennies for millions of streams on Pandora

Superstar Pharrell made just pennies for millions of streams on Pandora
According to an angry email from music publisher Sony/ATV CEO Marty Bandier, Pharrell and other music artists are not being paid properly for their popularity on the Internet Radio giant Pandora.

In fact, superstar Pharrell made just $2700 in publisher and songwriter royalties from his 43 million streams of the hit "Happy" for the first quarter of 2014, a measly $63 per million streams.



"This is a totally unacceptable situation and one that cannot be allowed to continue," Bandier wrote. "We at Sony/ATV want these digital music services to be successful because they are a great way for music fans to listen to music and have the potential to generate significant new revenues for everyone. However, this success should not come at the expense of songwriters whose songs are essential for these services to exist and thrive."

Others in the industry pointed out that Bandier's numbers did not include performance rights royalty rates, and that Pharrell's earnings were likely around $25,000 - although that figure is nothing to be too proud of either.

Pandora was quick to respond:
We respect Mr. Bandier's right to advocate on behalf of his business which, if BMI's recent results are any indication, is likely experiencing record revenues. However, we wish Mr. Bandier would provide the proper context and facts. Pandora is already the highest paying form of radio to both performers and songwriters. We have paid more than $1 billion to rights holders since our inception, which amounts to over half of all revenue we have generated. Regarding the specific songs he mentions in his letter, Pandora paid all rights holders more than $150,000 in just three months, substantially more than the $6,100 he suggests.

The issue is not whether Pandora pays enough in royalties. The real issue is the financial dispute between labels and publishers about how to divide Pandora's industry-leading royalties. Mr. Bandier and his label peers (many of whom work within the same companies) are free to decide amongst themselves to change the split between songwriters and performing artists of the substantial royalty revenue already paid by Pandora. We'd also encourage that same group to provide transparency about how those dollars flow to the artists and songwriters.

We want to work constructively with Sony ATV and other publishers to create positive, sustainable growth for the music industry. However, that vision must go beyond simply demanding that Pandora, which is already the highest paying form of radio, always pay more.




Source:
BI


Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Dec 2014 17:01
Tags
Pandora Royalties
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  • 11 comments
  • bobiroc

    Oh I feel so sorry for them and the millions they already have.. They must be starving and cannot get another mansion or expensive luxury car.

    AMD Phenom II 965 @ 3.67Ghz, 8GB DDR3, ATI Radeon 5770HD, 256GB OCZ Vertex 4, 2TB Additional HDD, Windows 7 Ultimate.

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    24.12.2014 22:08 #1

  • spot1

    ok, man. i read this, and i can't excapt!

    Pandora seems like to be the new wild wild west in not payin succesfull artists correctly,
    cause their answer tells all secrets. streaming ww pay 6.000$ for 1.000.000 plays,
    so Pharrell misses the x 100 of it's payment - and Pandora tells they paid all holders a mass of 150.000 $ WTF
    ... the fuckin 6000 $ x XXX are missed !!! and dey lie in tha text!

    dey think Pharrell is success enough, Spotify iTunes payin enough !
    It is a reason for all superstars to boycott #Pandora !

    If dat story true let's do it !!

    from Berlin, everythin insane music TP

    25.12.2014 15:14 #2

  • Justoneguy

    Originally posted by spot1: ok, man. i read this, and i can't excapt!

    Pandora seems like to be the new wild wild west in not payin succesfull artists correctly,
    cause their answer tells all secrets. streaming ww pay 6.000$ for 1.000.000 plays,
    so Pharrell misses the x 100 of it's payment - and Pandora tells they paid all holders a mass of 150.000 $ WTF
    ... the fuckin 6000 $ x XXX are missed !!! and dey lie in tha text!

    dey think Pharrell is success enough, Spotify iTunes payin enough !
    It is a reason for all superstars to boycott #Pandora !

    If dat story true let's do it !!

    from Berlin, everythin insane music TP
    LOL. Upon reading your post I was going to post a nasty response, Then I realized you couldn't be that stupid. It was all just a joke...

    26.12.2014 11:08 #3

  • spot1

    dey take d money from big sellin artists to fill deir depts,
    and to plan buyouts like Sony is up to in publishing now

    Pandora is shit!
    if i read dat answer text like printin here,
    we put all music from there down.

    even big cd stars suffer.

    26.12.2014 11:19 #4

  • scorpNZ

    What makes anyone think this is about the stars not making money..lmao..i must be reading a different article or something, yeah ! thats it *nods head*

    http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/
    http://www.realmodscene.com/

    26.12.2014 21:59 #5

  • xtago

    Originally posted by spot1: ok, man. i read this, and i can't excapt!

    Pandora seems like to be the new wild wild west in not payin succesfull artists correctly,
    cause their answer tells all secrets. streaming ww pay 6.000$ for 1.000.000 plays,
    so Pharrell misses the x 100 of it's payment - and Pandora tells they paid all holders a mass of 150.000 $ WTF
    ... the fuckin 6000 $ x XXX are missed !!! and dey lie in tha text!

    dey think Pharrell is success enough, Spotify iTunes payin enough !
    It is a reason for all superstars to boycott #Pandora !

    If dat story true let's do it !!

    from Berlin, everythin insane music TP
    Pandora and Spotify pay on how the music companies want to pay them.

    Which is via royalties, which have to be paid directly to the music companies.

    they get paid every quarter past not everyday and not the quarter they are in currently. also a song started is a payment not a complete play every time. you generally find you might play the same song or same person a few times an hour while using pandora, so they get multi payments per hour.

    Where as someone only getting 1 or 2 plays an hour won't get much, you need to remember this is payment for only 1 song this guy has more than 1 song though, being played at the same time.

    So they'd be paying for quarter up to sep 2014.

    Then the music companies divvy up the money and hand it out, also to note this isn't the music company it's management complaining.

    Also to note Drake and lil john are making millions from pandora a year.

    27.12.2014 03:53 #6

  • spot1

    you mean the big stories of how rich is everyone ?

    i trust the press, and this story of the stupid service i don't wanna name again is negative.

    their system sux in my ears, so every deal with BMG is better

    me no wit Pandora

    27.12.2014 04:13 #7

  • ajsmsg78

    Waaaaa Waaaa, keep crying like you actually deserve millions. SMH.

    29.12.2014 02:09 #8

  • mightyzog

    This is nothing new.... Artists get paid pennies on the dollar for CDs also.... They make all their "real" money when they tour. That's where the big bucks roll in.

    29.12.2014 07:48 #9

  • spot1

    ha! ...

    do you know how hard and expensive a tour is ?
    maybe it brings dem nothin at all, fun and a good time.

    it is possible to earn the money on your rights in all ways,
    but a) not with CDs anymore b) not with streaming.

    But of course in a well planed tour, a good handled publishing deal (maybe cashflow before)
    and a download record ?

    29.12.2014 15:25 #10

  • mightyzog

    My comment was not a questionn but a statement spot1. You obviously have a hard time understanding any of this.....

    Read this(it gets a little difficult to follow so read it twice)


    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml

    I hope this sheds some light on the subject

    29.12.2014 19:24 #11

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