ASCAP Asks FCC To Block Pandora From Buying Radio Station, Because ASCAP Doesn't Like Pandora
Found on Techdirt on Tuesday, 30 July 2013
ASCAP has been offering iHeartRadio and other terrestrial stations that also do streaming cheaper licenses for their streaming than it offers to Pandora. Pandora has argued that this violates the antitrust agreement that the DOJ made ASCAP agree to, after it was discovered that ASCAP was engaged in a variety of anti-competitive practices to restrict the market.
ASCAP clearly has discriminatory pricing practices against online-only streaming companies -- and is embarrassed by Pandora making this point very clearly by purchasing this tiny radio station.
ASCAP will have a hard time explaining why Pandora should not pay the terrestrial streaming rates even though it owns a terrestrial station and other radio stations pay the cheaper rates.