Indie Label Agency Merlin Calls Foul on Streaming Rates with Pandora

In this so-called "micro-currency" even a penny can have a massive financial implications. As Billboard puts it into context, the difference between a 0.17 and 0.18 royalty rate would be around $60 million. Though Pandora now pays a greater rate than it previously did, representatives for Merlin are claiming that the Copyright Royalty Board undercut the median favoring Pandora. "[The CRB] fundamentally misread the context of our agreement" Merlin CEO Charles Caldas said to the Billboard, referring to the original negotiated deal of a lower pay for higher exposure. - Michael Scott Barron, THUMP [via/web:http://streaming-tv.us]