Pandora is silent today, as are most other internet radio stations. Here's the letter explaining why:
A Day of Silence
Hi, it's Tim from Pandora,
I'm sorry to say that today Pandora, along with most Internet radio sites, is going off the air in observance of a Day Of Silence. We are doing this to bring to your attention a disastrous turn of events that threatens the existence of Pandora and all of internet radio. We need your help.
Ignoring all rationality and responding only to the lobbying of the RIAA, an arbitration committee in Washington DC has drastically increased the licensing fees Internet radio sites must pay to stream songs. Pandora's fees will triple, and are retroactive for eighteen months! Left unchanged by Congress, every day will be like today as internet radio sites start shutting down and the music dies.
A bill called the “Internet Radio Equality Act” has already been introduced in both the Senate (S. 1353) and House of Representatives (H.R. 2060) to fix the problem and save Internet radio—and Pandora—from obliteration.
I'd like to ask you to call your Congressional representatives today and ask them to become co-sponsors of the bill. It will only take a few minutes and you can find your Congresspersons and their phone numbers by entering your zip code here .
Your opinion matters to your representatives – so please take just a minute to call.
Visit www.savenetradio.org to continue following the fight to Save Internet Radio.
As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)
Please help save Internet Radio.
I assume this is purely an American decision, so the rest of the world’s internet radio will still be available. Since even France, cradle of copyright maximalism – those eternal moral rights – has turned against Apple Tunes, the music industry will have a hard time extracting its rents outside US borders. If it succeeds, Internet radio may shrink to pirated Chinese pop … Ugh.
I like most people just assume that internet radio will be available everyday. While the bigger online ventures might survive its all the smaller stations that are in danger. Most campus stations stream and if those disappear from the online streaming world that will truly be a big lose.
I was seriously considering getting the no interruptions but now that they’ve gone off the air I don’t want to participate with a radio station and then take your money and run now when will they be back on the air it’s been 2 days and the letter says one day
Works fine for me. That post was from 2007!
What a load of Pandora CRAP! The best way Pandora can try to change the dilemmas facing Pandora is to punish their loyal subscribers by going off the air? Nonesense! Count me in as one who will cancel my subscription immediately. This is pure garbage by Pandora.
Kind of weird to make that last comment ten years after the original post?