If the music keeps playing on and on, give a thank you to Congress.
No less than three acts of Congress were required to "save" music-streaming service Pandora, according to PandoDaily.
Tom Conrad, the firm's CTO who's been there for a decade, related the tale as part of a retelling of his firm's dance with the music industry over royalties -- a dance that nearly teetered over the edge.
To get a royalty rate that was affordable, Pandora needed to cobble together a "coalition" of other companies in order to negotiate down the so-called "fixed-rate royalties" paid for playing music over the Internet, Pando reported.
The coalition fell apart at the last minute, but Congress stepped in -- and since then, Pandora's stock has gained 200 percent in the last year and the company's value is pegged at $6.7 billion.
Pandora, by the way, didn't pay its employees for two years and its founders were $500,000 in debt before they raised more venture funding, Pando reported.
The plight of an entrepreneur.
It Took Congress to Save Pandora
Blamed for many of the nation's ills, our legislative branch kept the music playing.
Copyright FREEL - NBC Local Media
