A few days ago, I posted the news that Pandora is closing in the UK. Part of the reasons given were…

Both the PPL (which represents the record labels) and the MCPS/PRS Alliance (which represents music publishers) have demanded per track performance minima rates which are far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate

Well, so Pandora say. But they’re just saying that, aren’t they… of course they’ll claim the figures are “far too high”. That’s part of standard negotiation. Right?

Well, let’s do a little maths.

(## Updated, following Paul Brown’s comment lower down // and linked to MCPS/PRS).

Paidcontent.co.uk reports that MCPS/PRS was asking for 0.085p per song per listener - which also appears on this PDF file on the MCPS/PRS website. PPL, in a press release about the Pandora closure, says they would charge 0.0561p 0.0773p per song per listener (the interactive radio rate). Pandora plays around 15 songs per hour.

MCPS/PRS: 15 x 0.085p = 1.275p per listener, per hour
+ PPL: 15 x 0.0773p = 1.159p per listener, per hour
Total music rights payments: 2.434p per listener, per hour.

Now, consider this.

The latest figures from the UK’s Radio Advertising Bureau says that the commercial radio sector as a whole brought in £593m in 2007. The latest RAJAR figures show that commercial radio is listened-to for 441m total hours every week, or alternatively 23,018m total hours a year.

So… 23,018m total hours brings in £593m. Divide one by the other, and we find that, as a total industry average, commercial radio makes 2.57p per listener, per hour. And the revenue figures also include non-radio activity, like websites.

Let’s reiterate:
- The entire commercial radio industry in the UK, after 35 years experience and with 31 million weekly listeners, far outstripping even Google’s online reach, makes 2.57p per listener, per hour.
- For online radio, the UK music industry want rates that are 2.434p per listener, per hour.

Pandora would still have to pay their staff and their streaming costs; but once the music industry have taken 94% of their revenue, it’s a bit hard to understand where they’d find the money…

So, in short, it would clearly appear that these rates really are “far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate”.

Photo: Rossina Bossio Bossa. Used under licence. These are my personal views, and not those of the BBC.

Tim Westergren (above) has just sent this email to all users of Pandora in the UK.

I really liked Pandora; and it’s admirable that they are shuttering their service because they can’t achieve a licence, rather than just doing it anyway. It’s disappointing, but the right ethical thing to do. I’ve met Tim Westergren: he’s a very decent bloke. I’ve also met, on a number of occasions, Pandora’s UK MD, Paul Brown. He’s a very decent bloke too. Shame that the record companies just don’t want to know.

The bold bits are my highlights. (You may also like this post).

This is an email I hoped I would never have to send.

As you probably know, in July of 2007 we had to block usage of Pandora outside the U.S. because of the lack of a viable license structure for Internet radio streaming in other countries. It was a terrible day. We did however hold out some hope that a solution might exist for the UK, so we left it unblocked as we worked diligently with the rights organizations to negotiate an economically workable license fee. After over a year of trying, this has proved impossible. Both the PPL (which represents the record labels) and the MCPS/PRS Alliance (which represents music publishers) have demanded per track performance minima rates which are far too high to allow ad supported radio to operate and so, hugely disappointing and depressing to us as it is, we have to block the last territory outside of the US.

It continues to astound me and the rest of the team here that the industry is not working more constructively to support the growth of services that introduce listeners to new music and that are totally supportive of paying fair royalties to the creators of music. I don’t often say such things, but the course being charted by the labels and publishers and their representative organizations is nothing short of disastrous for artists whom they purport to represent - and by that I mean both well known and indie artists. The only consequence of failing to support companies like Pandora that are attempting to build a sustainable radio business for the future will be the continued explosion of piracy, the continued constriction of opportunities for working musicians, and a worsening drought of new music for fans. As a former working musician myself, I find it very troubling.

We have been told to sign these totally unworkable license rates or switch off, non-negotiable…so that is what we are doing. Streaming illegally is just not in our DNA, and we have to take the threats of legal action seriously. Lest you think this is solely an international problem, you should know that we are also fighting for our survival here in the US, in the face of a crushing increase in web radio royalty rates, which if left unchanged, would mean the end of Pandora.

We know what an epicenter of musical creativity and fan support the UK has always been, which makes the prospect of not being able to launch there and having to block our first listeners all the more upsetting for us.

We know there is a lot of support from listeners and artists in the UK for Pandora and remain hopeful that at some point we’ll get beyond this. We’re going to keep fighting for a fair and workable rate structure that will allow us to bring Pandora back to you. We’ll be sure to let you know if Pandora becomes available in the UK. There may well come a day when we need to make a direct appeal for your support to move for governmental intervention as we have in the US. In the meantime, we have no choice but to turn off service to the UK.

Pandora will stop streaming to the UK as of January 15th, 2008.

Again, on behalf of all of us at Pandora, I’m very, very sorry.

Photo: Steven Toomey. Used under licence

Prompted by Martin Belam’s list, and to avoid the utter boredom of reinstalling OSX now that my Mac Mini’s internal hard drive has given up the ghost a day before Christmas, here’s my top ten blog posts of 2007, thanks to Google Analytics.

I don’t get nearly the number of readers that Martin gets, and interestingly my recent appearances on the BBC Internet Blog (and links from it) haven’t altered my blog traffic significantly. In fact, most of the traffic to james.cridland.net has been related to a BBC Backstage gadget I’ve written, bringing feeds of BBC Weather to iGoogle. But, here’s the most-read blogs.

1. Fantastists and lazy journalists
Back in March, I looked at a story that the press failed to adequately check before printing, while I checked on it by, um, typing things into Google. I don’t comment on this story any more, and almost feel wrong even linking to it, but it’s clear that others still find it interesting. I wish Ryan and his family all the best.

2. When a perfectly valid credit card won’t work
Highly confusing, this one. This is just a rant, in January, against a credit card (one I don’t have any more, I think), but has clearly caught some search-engine love.

3. iPlayer on GNU/Linux
Welcome news about the BBC iPlayer, with a screenshot from the Ubuntu box in the kitchen. Oly posted in 12 December, but the third most popular posting of the entire year.

4. Review of the O2 XDA Mini S
A review of one of the most hateful phones I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to own. Curiously, my idea (held within this post) of how wifi should work on mobile phones is entirely how the Apple iPhone works. Interesting, too, how much of what I say is fixed with the iPhone.

5. I move to the BBC
My announcement from May, which many linked to. This posting has the record for the amount of comments on this little blog - 37 comments to one post. I ended up leaving Virgin at the end of June, and starting at the BBC on 9 July.

6. DAB+ in the UK
From March, a posting which appears quite high in a search for “DAB Plus” apparently; berating WorldDMB’s Quentin Howard for saying DAB+ would “never come to the UK”. He was wrong then, and while there are still no plans for any DAB+ broadcasting in the UK, he’s still wrong now.

7. How to auto-fill your iPod and train it for better music
From January. I mean to write a follow-up; but sadly have lost my iTunes library thanks to a failed hard-drive today, including all my information about the songs I like. Sigh. Will have to listen to lots more music, then.

8. Channel 4 and DAB Digital Radio
From March: an enthusiastic post about the (winning) Channel 4 bid for the second DAB multiplex. I wonder how many of the promised services will actually make it on-air? Virgin Radio Viva’s certainly not there… and it had a nice logo, too…

9. The Apple TV versus the Sony PSP
A long blog entry from March, essentially saying that if you allow people to hack your products, they’ll sell more. The Apple TV has, of course, sunk without trace; while the Sony PSP has lived to see another day.

10. iGoogle BBC Weather gadget
The source of most traffic to james.cridland.net these days. Bizarrely, Hereford appears to be the most popular place that people want their weather for.

11. Pandora - available to the US only? Or not
A rant about Pandora (who don’t pay PRS/MCPS and PPL licences) still being available in the UK.

12. talkSPORT nicks my little UK flag
…and I’m happy. This blog posting made me add the flag to all my sites again. Ah.

13. DAB audio quality from Ofcom
94% of people say that DAB audio quality is just as good if not better than FM. Worth a blog post.

14. Sky Anytime
I discover this catchup service on my Sky box. Seems to me that we’ll be much better services by proper IP-delivered catchup services. BBC iPlayer seems to fit the bill rather better these days.

15. The story of last.fm
To coincide with their sale to CBS, I witter on about how they don’t pay any licences to the music collection agencies, and just went ahead and made a business (while PPL, MCPS/PRS just stood around and did nothing). Nothing has changed.

16. DAB Slideshow
A photograph of the UK’s first DAB Slideshow services. The BBC has since added some slideshow services, but I don’t own a radio capable of decoding them.

17. Facebook - goodness, it’s good
I discover Facebook. In May of this year. And it’s quite good.

18. Getting rid of out-of-office replies in Gmail
Quite a few rules to rid yourself, mainly, of out-of-office replies. This post needs updating.

19. Logitech Harmony review
A long-term review of a remote control. No, seriously, it’s in the top 20.

20. Google Charts with PHP
Only posted in December, this is announcing a free mostly-port of some Google JavaScript code (which does the same job in PHP). The power of open-source strikes again.

Might I wish you a happy and safe Christmas.

Photo: Stuart Meldrum. Used under licence.

BBC News reported:

From Thursday 3 May, Pandora will check a listener’s country of origin by looking at their computer’s IP address - the unique number which will identify the country in which the PC has connected to the net. Mounting pressure from record labels has forced the company to stop streaming music to countries where licensing deals have not been agreed.

Techcrunch reported:

If you live outside of the U.S. and enjoy listening to customized radio stations on Pandora, brace yourself for some bad news. The site will be shutting you out starting Thursday evening. Registered users who access the service from outside the U.S. received a warning email yesterday letting them know that this will be happening.

It seemed that Pandora was dead for those of us outside the land of the “free”. Pandora says at the bottom of every page that it’s “currently for US listening only”, and links to the FAQ saying so. The UK appears not to be a special case.

Which is why I find it a little odd that I can listen at work (an IP address that comes out of Glasgow or London, depending on when I log on), and at home (an IP address which comes out of London). I’m not using any silly proxies; just connecting as normal. I’ve been listening recently to it for six or seven hours a day - without any problem.

In April last year, most commercial radio stations were forced by PPL to stop broadcasting outside of the UK. Phil Riley from Chrysalis Radio spoke for many of us when he said, at the Radio 3.0 event a few weeks ago, that if his stations were “playing by the rules”*, he found it slightly irritating that non-UK stations were also available, unfettered, into the UK.

Do you have access to Pandora? I’d be really interested to know. Of course, you need a US zip code to sign up, which is where you need to remember that high-school soap from the 1980s called, cough, Beverley Hills 902… well, I’ll not give it all away.

.

* As an aside, PPL’s website defines PPL as “a music industry organisation collecting and distributing airplay and public performance royalties in the UK”. In the UK. Not anywhere else. So, while they have full rights to levy fees on non-UK internet broadcasters who are audible in the UK, they have no rights, whatsoever, to control any music user’s use of music outside of the UK. So, if you want to broadcast worldwide, you have no need to fear PPL… just every single equivalent of PPL in every single territory worldwide.

At Internet World 2007. Watching Paul Brown, MD Europe, Pandora Media

Taking us on a tour of Pandora. A little boring for me, given that I use it.

Says that his service is all about ‘Discovery’. Irritatingly calls it radio. It’s not. It’s a music jukebox. Grr.

People on average make 25-30 stations, based on artists and/or songs. Interesting: I think I have about five in my Pandora.

Talks about the problem of search-blindness within iTunes, and how this fixes it.

Says that the “Backstage” area - more info about the tracks, seemingly totally lifted from AMG with no additional content and precious little that is unique, is being quite popular. I don’t quite understand how, but anyway, that bodes well.

Says they aren’t focused on community. But they have an interesting new profile system. “Last listened-to”, etc. Looks worth looking into.

Explains how the music genome project works: I heard all this on an old Leo Laporte podcast (Behind the Net, or something) so nothing new for me. Picture of a typical music analyser on the screen who looks like a spotty geeky student. However, interestingly they appear to have tweaked this recently to use collaborative feedback a bit (which I seem to remember Westergren specifically said in the podcast that he wasn’t going to do).

Stresses that Pandora isn’t just “about the hits”. (Probably a main point of difference with Last.fm).

Expresses that they want to be across all platforms: in the car, on the mobile, at home, etc. (That bit’s a little scary: but then, of course they -want- to be on those platforms, but they’ve precious little else to say.)

Nicely, Westergren does a tour of the US visiting listeners. Says he’s doing this to meet the listeners, but I reckon there are other reasons. Not sure yet what those might be.

Figures. Yay.
Registered users: Mar 2007: 6,141,172 (not now 6.5)
Mar 2006: 1,474,032
Launch Nov 05

Briefly mentions expansion plans: Canada, Continental Europe, UK. Mobile: a key area. Classical music is coming too. ‘Further consumer electronics partnerships’.

This isn’t a posting about my moggy - though that’s him, just up there, relaxing in Yorkshire in 1999. (Eight years later, he is warming my lap as I type this).

No, this is a posting about Mog.com, a new music website (well, new to me, anyway) which has a few interesting tricks up its sleeve.

So far, Pandora makes you type some of your favourite songs to base a jukebox around them; last.fm insists that you install some software to spy on what you play, and waits until you’ve played 200 songs to give you some useful personalised information. Mog.com is interesting, because it has a piece of software called ‘Mog-o-matic’ which appears to go through your music files and lets the website know what you own. It’s a fairly quick process (taking overnight from my point of view), and from that… hey presto, music recommendations. To a point.

Being frank, the music recommendations aren’t up to much using mog.com. This is probably because the system just knows what’s in my collection, and not what I listen to most. So, recommended songs include a Stereophonics song I loathe, albeit lots of other songs I don’t, yet, recognise.

But the interesting thing is Mog TV (in beta, naturally). This kind of works by scouring YouTube for stuff it reckons you like. Punch it up on thne MacMini connected to the television, as I did over the weekend, and it plays music television - exclusively, stuff I might like.

There’s a lot of Beatles in my iTunes collection, for example (and a lot of Monty Python, and there’s a reason for that which I won’t bore you with) - so I get a lot of Beatles tracks on Mog TV. Except YouTube throws up a fascinating set of treatment of Beatles songs - from the manic ukelele player I mention earlier to some great, presumably home-made, video clips. In short, not only did I get ‘official’ clips, but also a set of fascinating, unofficial, creative clips too.

I’m enjoying Current, the new TV channel on Sky, but when I want music, Mog TV is really rather fine. And the clever bit is: it’s all coming from YouTube in the first place. Mog doesn’t have to worry about music payments, copyright, or anything else.

Viacom’s concerns about YouTube aside: is this what MTV should have done? Why watch non-stop music videos I don’t like, when I can watch non-stop music videos that I do enjoy on Mog TV?

Incidentally, the best way I’ve found so far of finding new music is this post from Dan Taylor, from which I used a non-UK-based online music retailer (coughski) to purchase all the albums I’d not already got, to give them a decent test. I like Belle and Sebastian, and will be purchasing more of their albums from a UK-based retailer soon. (I did not like Yo La Tengo, however.)