Pandora to Pay Labels $90 Million to Settle Pre-1972 Recordings Lawsuit

Last year, Capitol Records, Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music and ABKCO Music filed a lawsuit against streaming radio service Pandora over recordings made before February 15, 1972. The suit concerned the fact that sound recordings weren’t protected under federal copyright law until that date, and thus, Pandora hadn’t been accurately paying the labels for streaming those recordings. Yesterday, Pandora announced that it had paid $90 million to the labels in a settlement, the L.A. Times reports.

As part of the agreement, Pandora did not obtain a license to stream the pre-1972 recordings. However, they’ll have until the end of 2016 to negotiate a new deal. 

In a statement, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)’s Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman called the settlement “a significant milestone and a big win for the music community. We appreciate the collaborative and constructive approach of Pandora’s team in resolving this longstanding issue for artists and labels.”

In their own statement, Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews wrote: “Pandora is excited to have found resolution with these record labels. Together we share a common objective to grow the music industry and support artists. We pursued this settlement in order to move the conversation forward and continue to foster a better, collaborative relationship with the labels.”