Adele News: Licensing Loophole Allows Pandora To Stream '25,' Album Boosts Pandora Stock Price
Radio streaming service Pandora confirmed via Facebook on Tuesday, Nov. 24, that multi-awarded singer-songwriter Adele has brought her record-breaking new album "25" to the U.S. online radio service. This, just days after reports saying that the new album, her first in nearly five years, will not be made available on subscription streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. On November 19, The New York Times reported that the major digital music companies had been informed that Adele, like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift before her, had decided not to stream her album at its release, in an apparent bid to increase sales of the physical album.
But a loophole in U.S. licensing laws allows Pandora to stream "25." Unlike Spotify and Apple Music, Pandora isn't an on-demand listening service. Instead, it lets users create "stations" based on their musical tastes and only allows them to listen to three specific cuts by a particular artist per hour. Pandora doesn't rely on direct deals with record labels to offer songs on its service. Instead, it is licensed through a statute that governs "non-interactive" streaming services, allowing it to stream any song that has a U.S. copyright as long as the company pays the licensing fee.
Pandora confirmed its Facebook post, sending Entertainment Weekly the following statement: "Good news, radio listeners, you can now hear all songs from Adele's latest album '25' on Pandora." The statement goes on to say, "It is clear radio listeners love Adele and are coming to Pandora to enjoy her incredible music. Since 'Hello' was added to our platform last month, her total station adds are up 1200 percent. Within that same timeframe, spins for 'Hello' are more than 5x the number for the next most popular song 'Someone Like You.'"
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And it appears that the record-breaking album's availability on Pandora has given the company's stock a much-needed boost. On Wednesday, after the company's confirmation, Pandora Music Inc. shares went up by as much as 5.8% on the New York Stock Exchange. This is a welcome respite from the company's struggle against increasing and incessant competition from similar services like Spotify and Apple. In October, the company's stock dropped by 35% after failing to meet its holiday-quarter sales expectations.
Because of licensing constraints, Pandora can currently only be accessed by listeners in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.
Forbes just announced that "25" has sold more than 3 million copies since its launch Friday last week. On Tuesday, it broke the single-week album sales record previously held by *NSYNC's "No Strings Attached," which was released in March 2000 and sold 2.416 million copies in its first week. "25" broke the previous record within four days of its release.
