Paying The Piper: Sirius XM, Pandora & The Musical Artist

"Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."-Steve Martin

In exploring the future viability of these two types of radio (satellite & Internet) and gauging if they are worth investing in, one must first understand the cost of royalties for Sirius XM (SIRI) and Pandora (P). It is essential to assign a value to the integral component and true source of each business' growing popularity and this (of course) is the music. Although some of the creators of music share the benevolent nature of a Jonas Salk and think their music should be free, the fact remains that most artists wish to become famous, popular and ultimately...highly paid. The journey of a song from creation to exploitation is a varied and a convoluted tale, so it should best be described in broad generalities, to which I will seek to let brevity be my guide. I'll give it a shot.

"Do your job and demand your compensation, but in that order."-Carey Grant

An artist sits down with an idea, a pad, a pencil, a piano, guitar or possibly a hookah, and through the enviable alchemy of intangible inspiration or (more commonly) through the warmed-over hackery of mediocre mimicry, a song is created. This artist may be unaware that the song was automatically copyrighted the moment it was fixed in a "tangible" medium (i.e. song tablature, CD, tape, etc.) however a smart artist will also register the song with the U.S. Copyright office for verification purposes and protection... 

Read More On Seeking Alpha: http://seekingalpha.com/article/294332-paying-the-piper-sirius-xm-pandora-the-musical-artist