Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 passes; Pandora to continue royalty negotiations

On Friday night Tim Westergren and his dedicated Pandora team worked overnight to rev up listeners once again to get on the phone with their local Congressional representatives and fight in favor of the Webcaster Settlement Act of 2008 (HR 7084). Once the House voted in favor of the bill the around-the-clock efforts continued as the same team asked listeners to lobby their state Senators.

It worked.

Pandora has just reported that HR 7084 has been voted in favor of through the Senate, which grants the company additional negotiation time with SoundExchange so that it can determine more fair royalties for the music it plays for its millions of listeners.

“This is a big step forward for webcasters and artists. The table is set now to wrap up the negotiations and turn our attention to building great businesses," Westergren said. "The support from our listeners was just extraordinary, and we had some great friends helping us in Congress – in particular the four lead sponsors and long-time champions of the issue: Senators Wyden and Brownback, and Representatives Inslee and Manzullo."