Pandora Chief Calls $2 Billion Royalty Milestone 'Promising News' for Industry

Pandora passed the $2 billion mark in royalties for artists and songwriters, nine months after hitting the $1.5 billion royalties mark, the company said Monday. Some 80 million users spend an average of more than 23 hours per month streaming music on Pandora, it said. Pandora CEO Tim Westergren called the “rapid acceleration” of Internet radio royalty payments "promising news" for the industry, creating a “massive” revenue stream that previously hasn’t existed from radio.