Pandora to halt UK service

Discussions over royalties payments have failed to reach a workable arrangement

Pandora failed to reach a deal with industry bodies

Online radio site Pandora is to halt its UK operations following a breakdown in negotiations with royalties collectors.

The streaming music service plays users a selection of tracks based on their listening habits and data from the Music Genome Project, an initiative which classifies music using 400 separate attributes.

Unlike many Web 2.0 sites, Pandora actively set out to engage with copyright bodies as part of efforts to legalise its activities.

Despite these efforts, the project has failed to find an "economically workable" arrangement with the Phonographic Performance Limited and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, according to Pandora founder Tim Westergren.

"It continues to astound me 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," said Westergren.
"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."

Pandora will stop trading on 15 January.