Rapid City's KXMZ-FM bills itself as 'Today's Hits Without the Rap.' Daft Punk's infectious single 'Get Lucky' made the cut at the station, which was purchased by Pandora.

Pandora Launches Shot in War Over Music Royalties

Soundcheck | Jun 17, 2013

The sale of a radio station in Rapid City, S.D., normally wouldn’t turn heads here at the Soundcheck cubicle farm. After all, stations change hands all the time. But last week, KXMZ 102.7 FM ("Today’s Best Hits Without the Rap!") was purchased by a newcomer to the broadcasting industry: the digital radio giant Pandora Media.

With the purchase of a terrestrial outlet, the company aims to lower the royalty rates its pays to songwriters and music publishers like ASCAP and BMI. (A station owner like Clear Channel, for example, pays lower rates to stream music via the digital iHeartRadio service -- a Pandora rival.) In the wake of the announcement, BMI has filed suit against Pandora over the rate issue.

Paul Resnikoff of the website Digital Music News joins us to talk about performance rates, Pandora's programming plans for the station and what role Apple's new streaming-radio project might be playing in the situation.

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