Pandora may be stiffing artists like Pharrell, Aloe Blacc, and arguably every songwriter and producer, but when it comes to office space, penny rates need not apply. According to City of New York commercial real estate filings, Pandora has now more than doubled the space of its super-pricey, multi-level office spread on 125 Park Avenue, just south of bustling Grand Central Terminal.
Pandora first moved into the tony digs last summer, complete with a blockbuster mega-renovation that collapsed two floors into a spacious, cathedral-like workspace. Now, those blueprints are mere doodles, with the 52,000 square foot spread expanding into a 104,000-plus square foot sprawl.
The original lease was at a reported $65 per square foot, which puts the current lease at $6.5 million per annum.
SL Green, the lessor, cited Pandora’s “rapid growth” in their expansion disclosure, though Pandora remains deeply unprofitable after roughly 15 years in operation.
The expansion one-ups other lavish-living Manhattan tenants like Spotify and Soundcloud, both of whom have secured ultra-luxurious digs in Gotham. But the high-living raises serious questions about Pandora’s non-existent profitability, not to mention mounting frustration from a growing battalion of impoverished songwriters, producers, and artists.
Just recently, Pharrell’s publisher revealed a criminal $60 payout for the mega-hit “Happy,” despite one million plays on Pandora, while Aloe Blacc (pictured above) shared a $4,000 pay-stub for his co-writing of Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!” which garnered 168 million plays.
Seemingly always on the defensive, Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren pointed to incomplete stats that only pertain to songwriters, though according to songwriters, that’s exactly the point. Currently, songwriters, publishers, and producers like Rodney Jerkins are demanding more than a paltry, 4% cut of Pandora revenues, with publishers pushing to direct-license Pandora outside of government-mandated rates.
There wasn’t as much fervor when labels were living in castles and treating themselves like royalty on the backs of artists.
Its different now. These streaming companies payout pennies instead of normal mechanical rates
“normal mechanical rates”
A stream is one listen by one person. Not a purchase.
So, a million streams can be likened to one play on a radio station with an audience of 1M. A PRO would not pay out $91,000 for this!
You mean similar to those record labels that are continually being audited for past royalties that were never paid? Or the record labels that won millions in lawsuits against dot coms for infringement then never passed along those reimbursement winning to the artists?
You guys are smart
I think you mean, “normal mechanical rates (under controlled composition clauses).”
Funny how label loopholes are OK now….
Terminal! Grand Central Terminal!
Ha, okay.
Those headquarters don’t look all that lavish for the size of the company. Companies earning over $1 billion revenues typically have nice headquarters. They need to be able to impress business partners and attract quality employees. That’s hard to do if you work out of a trailer.
+1
ur out of control.
Not too different than the offices Atlantic Records is living in. It’s not like major labels have moved their offices to Jersey.
its so ugly it’s hurting my eyes. tacky eye sores. fire the designer. this awful, just so fucking tacky im about to puke. it’s so bad iv got a gun in my lap and am going to take myself out.
that’s some gorgeous teak
I can’t believe any of you would justify the behavior of these criminals,
profiting lavishly off the backs of creative writers.
“A stream is one listen by one person. Not a purchase.”
You hit the nail on the head. Times have changed. Streaming needs to be re-defined as a purchase.