BMI Wins Pandora Rate Court Battle

In a victorious ruling for all BMI-affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers, Broadcast Music, Inc. received a favorable decision from a New York Rate Court after a lengthy legal battle over the value of the BMI repertoire to the Pandora digital music service.

The ruling concluded that the BMI proposed rate of 2.5% of revenue was “reasonable, and indeed at the low end of the range of fees of recent licenses.” Given the recent industry deals made in the free market, the Court agreed with BMI that this rate is a more appropriate reflection of the value of BMI’s music. This marks an important step forward in valuing music in the digital age.