MUMBAI: The music discovery platform, and Atlas Music Publishing, a digital market-minded alternative to big box, high volume music publishing, and today announced a multi-year licensing agreement for Atlas Music Publishing’s catalog of musical works. This direct publishing deal creates business benefits for Pandora, while modernizing compensation for Atlas and its songwriters in the U.S.

Commenting on the deal Atlas Music Publishing chief executive officer Richard Stumpf said, “As consumption of music moves online, it is vital that we, as a proactive publishing partner to our writers, have direct relationships with key companies in the space and none are more vital than Pandora. It’s not just about the better royalties we achieved, clearer view of transactions, and the march towards ultimate parity, but also about having an integrated creative relationship.”

Speaking on the deal, Pandora chief executive officer Brian McAndrews asserted, “Pandora is committed to a forward-thinking approach to identifying partnerships within the music industry.”

He further added, “Atlas presents a creative and modern perspective to music publishing in today’s dynamic environment, and we are eager to work with them to support their songwriters and new music creation.”

While specific terms of the multi-year agreement are confidential, the companies worked together to build an innovative approach to publisher economics. The deal allows Atlas Music Publishing to obtain its goal of delivering improved performance royalties for its songwriters, while Pandora will benefit from greater rate certainty and the ability to add new flexibility to the company's product offering over time. The public performance royalties Pandora also pays to rights holders of master recordings are not affected by this agreement.