After all of last year’s rhetoric about the death of Web radio due to a music industry rate hike, it looks some of those predictions are close to becoming reality. According to an article in The Washington Post, the popular Web radio property Pandora is close to shuttering its doors when the much-discussed royalty changes finally go into effect.
“We’re approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” Pandora founder Tim Westergren told the Post. “This is like a last stand for webcasting.” The issue: with the new royalty rates in effect, Pandora will hand over 70 percent of its profits to record companies, leaving little to keep the fledgling company afloat.
