MUMBAI: Internet radio service- Pandora announced on Thursday, 11 September that it signed a multi-year agreement with international music rights company BMG. The deal will give Pandora a US license, enabling complete access to the ASCAP and BMI catalogues of music.

Addressing the agreement, Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews said, "Millions of Pandora's listeners have long enjoyed the great music from BMG's songwriters. Our agreement with BMG ensures that we can continue expanding the audience for one of the world's most storied music catalogues and demonstrates that collaboration between the music industry and Pandora creates opportunities and value for publishers and songwriters."

The direct publishing deal is aimed at creating business and marketing benefits for not just Pandora and BMG, but also the songwriters associated with the label. This includes a number of US songwriters that have helped create hits for artistes like Beyonce, David Guetta, Rihanna, One Direction, Adele, Jay Z, Britney Spears, The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Jessi J and David Bowie.

BMG Chrysalis North America President, Marketing & Creative Laurent Hubert said, "BMG looks forward to a prosperous relationship with Pandora in which our songwriters can benefit from their platform. We also want to take this opportunity to emphasize our strong, continuing relationship with the US performing rights organisations as they play a vital role for songwriters and music publishers alike."

The music rights company is also a representative of some of the biggest names in the contemporary music industry like Will.i.am, Bruno Mars, Kings of Leon, John Legend, Frank Ocean, The Flaming Lips, Duran Duran, Valarie June and Wilco.