Record Store Day 2014 Celebrates Rare Vinyls From Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen And Jack White: Pandora Streaming Radio Service Threatened By Music Label Lawsuit
April 19 marked the seventh annual Record Store Day and you know what that means... out with the iTunes, downloads, and music steaming, and in with the Vinyl... for a day at least.
Record store day is celebrated on the third Saturday of April each year to honor independently owned record stores. It was officially founded in 2007 and ever since the day is celebrated by fans, artists, and record stores internationally as they come together in an effort to keep vinyl alive.
The New York Times reported that Record Store Day featured some 450 items, mostly vinyl records made to be sold only on April 19. Among them are rarities from Nirvana, Regina Spektor, Haim, Bruce Springsteen and one from Jack White that gets an A+ for effort: a disc recorded, manufactured and sold, all on a single day.
In addition to the vinyl records, a briefcase-style turntable with an image of Charlie Brown was also distributed for consumer purchase at $100.
While music lovers were out celebrating Record Store Day, Record Labels were suing Pandora. How ironic.
Capitol Records, Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music and ABKCO Music are the labels that have filed a lawsuit against streaming radio service Pandora over recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972.
The lawsuit states that sound recordings were not protected under federal copyright law until February of 1972 and because Pandora has failed to pay for music released prior to the above date, record labels are saying that this is "unfair."
"Pandora's conduct is unfair to the recording artists and musicians whose performances are embodied in Pre-72 Recordings, but who do not get paid for Pandora's exploitation of Pre-72 Recordings," the suit reads. "It is also unfair to other businesses that compete with Pandora but obtain licenses and pay for the right to stream Plaintiffs' Pre-72 Recordings to the public, while Pandora does not."
If Pandora and the record labels do not reach an agreement, it looks like Pandora's '50s Rock n'Roll, Motown, Doo-Wop, and '60s Oldies stations might just fade to black.
Pandora listeners will also be deprived of listening to artists such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, James Brown and Led Zeppelin if the suit is not resolved.
Despite the impending lawsuit, Pandora is confident that all will be resolved. The music streaming site released an official statement stating that, "Pandora is confident in its legal position and looks forward to a quick resolution of this matter."
Guess we will just have to wait and see how this all pans out.