Sony BMG Music Entertainment U.K. & Ireland has licensed its works to Pandora Media ahead of the U.K. launch of the California-based company’s free Internet radio service, due to go live in spring 2007.
The music major said today (Nov. 29) it would make its entire catalog available for audio streaming via the service in the Kingdom and Ireland. Sony BMG will receive an undisclosed share of Pandora’s advertising revenue.
After entering the name of a song or artist, Pandora creates a customized playlist based on predetermined attributes. It uses a recommendation database created during the last five years with the help of more than 30 music analysts, called the Music Genome Project.
“Pandora is one of the key drivers of the musical long tail,” comments Jon Davis, Sony BMG U.K. and Ireland director of new media.
Pandora has spent six years developing its song-recommendation database. The company says it has been working since May 2006 to obtain the relevant licenses to operate in the U.K. “That work continues,” it says in a statement.
