Pandora pays a monstrous percentage of their revenues to SoundExchange for the use of recordings. That is, 60 percent according to the latest estimates from Pandora founder Tim Westergren. But this could have been a whole lot worse, and A2IM chief Rich Bengloff takes some of the credit for softening Congressionally-mandated rates to more reasonable levels. “We want parity with the majors – why should we get less?” Bengloff posed. “But we led the discussion to get the rates for the industry as a whole to be lower so Pandora could sustain their business.”

Bengloff is a nice enough guy, but this was hardly an altruistic crusade. The independent sector has typically been locked out by major radio stations – and their simulcasting mirrors – but Pandora’s sudden rise to fame is helping to change all that. “Selfishly, they play a higher percentage of independent music,” Bengloff noted in an earlier interview.

Actually, listeners are the ones playing the independent content, thanks to their thumbs-up or thumbs-down refinements. Either way, Bengloff praised Pandora to being completely willing to pay royalties. “People have come to us asking for promotional only deals, it’s really BS,” Bengloff relayed. “Pandora is not looking for this type of model.”

But, 60 percent? Sounds like Bengloff helped to bend Pandora over a little less, instead of save their business. On that note, Bengloff readily admitted that Pandora pays “a very generous amount,” though he also noted that over time, Pandora rates – as a percentage of overall revenue – will start to normalize somewhat. Or, that is the hope, anyway.