In the first blog in this two-part blog series, I discussed Pandora Media, the popular music-streaming site, and its difficulty to maintain profitability in today’s music-streaming industry.1 Despite its high number of users and annual revenue, the company is reportedly looking to sell.2 This decision comes in the face of an increasingly competitive industry, increased…
Tag: Music
Music Licensing Issues Threaten Pandora’s Business Model
Pandora Media, the popular music streaming site, has nearly eighty-one million users worldwide, and continues to generate over one billion dollars in revenue annually.1 However, Pandora is reportedly looking to sell, given the difficulties it faces in generating revenue and paying substantial licensing and royalty costs.2 Pandora is faced with increasing costs on two fronts….
Sound Recording Feedback: Efficiency Noise
In my prior post, I argued that the limited nature of the sound recording copyright has had adverse effects on the scope of protection for other copyrights.1 The copyright act defines a sound recording in terms of the process of fixation, not in terms of substantive expression.2 In response, courts developed bright-line rules towards copying…
Sound Recording Feedback: Bright-Line Rules and Blurred-Lines Jurisprudence
“[G]ood artists copy[,] great artists steal. And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” – Steve Jobs1 Mimicry, homage, and blatant copying create the foundation for several artistic forms, including contrafacts and mash-ups.2 Yet, copying is merely the start of the creative process. At the heart of the arts is the copying-expression cycle:…