Pandora: Pink Floyd Wrong About Royalty Cut

Pandora has responded to Pink Floyd’s claims that the company is “tricking artists” into supporting a massive royalty cut, saying the rockers have been given “badly misleading information.” In a statement published by Business Insider, the music streaming and discovery service pointed to “a well-orchestrated campaign by the RIAA and their lobbying arm to mislead and agitate artists” as the culprit.

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The three surviving members of Pink Floyd accused Pandora of seeking to cut musicians’ pay for digital radio play by 85 percent, though a similar plan failed last year – partially because of a letter signed by more than 125 artists including Pink Floyd, Billy Joel and Rihanna. While Pink Floyd accused Pandora of “tricking artists into signing a confusing petition without explaining what they are really being asked to support,” the streaming service says the 85 percent figure is incorrect, and notes that Pandora pays songwriters and performers more than comparable services.

The source of Pink Floyd’s 85-percent figure is also unclear; though the band linked to an article in The Register, Business Insider points out that the piece doesn’t cite a source for the number.

Pink Floyd have had an uneasy relationship with the music’s new digital landscape: though they recently agreed with Spotify on a streaming deal for their catalog, they held out for years, and their label, EMI, signed a deal with the streaming service in 2011 without the rights to Floyd’s music. The rockers also sued EMI in 2010 for allowing single-song downloads, instead of full-album purchases, on iTunes.