Sunday, August 17, 2008
Rule of thumb on calculating the day of the week...In any calendar year, the dates 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12 (April 4th, June 6th, August 8th, October 10th, December 12th) all fall on the same week day. So does the last day in February. In 2008, these will all occur on Friday.
But in the saddest news ever to grace my geeky, music loving ears...Pandora made a bold political statement on Friday, saying they'd likely shut down rather than continue to pay exorbitant fees to play music to listeners of its massively popular service.
"We're approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision," said Tim Westergren, who founded Pandora. "This is like a last stand for webcasting."
"We're losing money as it is," said Westergren, a former acoustic rocker. "The moment we think this problem in Washington is not going to get solved, we have to pull the plug because all we're doing is wasting money."
Matt Nathanson, a singer-songwriter who has recorded for both major and independent record labels, said he is worried that the demands placed on Internet radio could "choke" the industry before it gets its footing.
"Net radio is good for musicians like me, and I think most musicians are like me," he said. "The promotion it provides is far more important than the revenue."
Well, this makes me want to cry. Pandora is all I listen to at work. I love it and have been an advocate for helping it stay alive. Westergreen sends out e-mails for help from listeners and I have always done what I can to save internet radio. I applaud his efforts and I hope he and his company can rise above this mess.
Labels: pandora, rules of thumb
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