NEW YORK & OAKLAND, Calif.-- December 21, 2015 -- Pandora (NYSE:P), the world's most powerful music discovery platform, and Downtown Music Publishing, the leading music rights management company for the digital age, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for Downtown Music Publishing's catalog of musical works. This direct publishing deal creates business benefits for Pandora, while modernizing compensation for Downtown and its songwriters in the U.S.
"This agreement with Pandora is a milestone in our on-going mission to deliver equitable, accurate and timely payments for our songwriters," said Downtown founder and CEO, Justin Kalifowitz. "It also serves as a reminder that songwriter royalties are best negotiated in a free market. We're looking forward to working more closely with Pandora in optimizing this agreement and know that, in the words of Cy Coleman, the best is yet to come!"
"I am excited for our partnership with Downtown Music Publishing," said Brian McAndrews, chief executive officer at Pandora. "Pandora is committed to bringing long-term growth to the music business, and working with the talented and diverse songwriters on Downtown Music Publishing's roster will contribute to that."
While specific terms of the multi-year agreement are confidential, the companies worked together to build an innovative approach to publisher economics. The deal allows Downtown Music Publishing to obtain its goal of delivering improved performance royalties for its songwriters while Pandora will benefit from greater rate certainty and the ability to add new flexibility to the company's product offering over time. The public performance royalties Pandora also pays to rights holders of master recordings are not affected by this agreement.
ABOUT PANDORA
Pandora is the world's most powerful music discovery platform - a place where artists find their fans and listeners find music they love. We are driven by a single purpose: unleashing the infinite power of music by connecting artists and fans, whether through earbuds, car speakers, live on stage or anywhere fans want to experience it. Our team of highly trained musicologists analyze hundreds of attributes for each recording which powers our proprietary Music Genome Project, delivering billions of hours of personalized music tailored to the tastes of each music listener, full of discovery, making artist/fan connections at unprecedented scale. Founded by musicians, Pandora empowers artists with valuable data and tools to help grow their careers and connect with their fans.
www.pandora.com | Pandora Blog | Pandora LinkedIn | @PandoraPulse
About Downtown Music Publishing:
Downtown Music Publishing is one of the leading rights-management firms, with offices in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, London, and Amsterdam. The company's catalog spans over seven decades of popular music, including the works of such diverse writer/artists as The Beatles, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Cy Coleman, The Kinks, Randy Newman, Hans Zimmer, Mötley Crüe, Jewel, Neon Trees, and One Direction.
Pandora
Dominic Paschel, 510-842-6960
Corporate Finance & Investor Relations
or
Tracy Zamot, 917-579-6704
PR & Corporate Communications
Downtown
Mark Satlof
Sr. VP | Shore Fire Media
New York | Nashville
718-522-7171
or
James Rainis
Jr. Account Executive | Shore Fire Media
New York
718-522-7171