New coalition for Pandora-backed royalty bill launches

A group of tech trade associations and broadcast radio companies and online streaming service Pandora launched a new coalition on aimed at urging Congress to support legislation that would lower the royalty fees paid by Internet radio stations so they're more in line with the rates paid by other digital radio services.

The Internet Radio Fairness Coalition argues that the current royalty rate-setting standard for Pandora and other Internet radio services is outdated. It contends that the current music royalty rules prevent other Internet-based radio services from getting off the ground because a large chunk of their revenue goes to paying steep royalty fees for streaming songs. Instead, the coalition is calling for all digital radio services — including cable and satellite stations — to be put on the same royalty rate-setting standard. The musicFIRST Coalition slammed the launch calling it a "desperate attempt" by Pandora to build momentum for the Internet Radio Fairness Act co-sponsored by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).