Pandora MLC lawsuit: Huge 7,000-page fight heads to trial

The Pandora MLC lawsuit over streaming royalties is headed for a jury trial after a federal judge in Nashville declined to decide the case on paper. In a Sept. 30 order, U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson refused to rule on dueling summary judgment motions from Pandora and the Mechanical Licensing Collective, citing a case file of more than 7,000 pages, Billboard reported.

What the judge decided in the Pandora MLC lawsuit

Both sides had asked the court earlier this year to rule in their favor without a trial. Normally, a judge reviewing such motions sorts through the evidence to see whether any real factual disputes remain for a jury.

In the Pandora MLC lawsuit, Richardson skipped that step. He pointed to what he called a “corpulent” record of 263 documents filed by the two sides, according to Billboard, which first obtained the order.

“The court in its discretion finds that it would be more efficient to deal with all contested issues and examine the fulsome factual record at trial rather than expending the (very substantial) judicial resources necessary to dispose of the motions,” Richardson wrote.

He added that the sheer size of the filings itself hinted that a trial was needed. If a party must file thousands of pages to argue there is “nothing to see here,” he wrote, “then the volume suggests that there is indeed something for the jury to see.”

What the MLC alleges

The MLC, the nonprofit created under the 2018 Music Modernization Act to collect and pay out mechanical royalties from streaming services, filed suit in 2024. It alleges that Pandora, a SiriusXM company, misclassified its free tier to avoid the higher rates that “interactive” on-demand services such as Spotify and Apple Music pay songwriters and publishers.

Pandora pays interactive rates for its premium on-demand tier but has long treated Pandora Free as a radio-style “noninteractive” service. The MLC argues that the free tier’s “Sponsored Premium Access” sessions, which let listeners briefly pick specific songs in exchange for watching ads, pushed it into interactive territory. The group described the alleged shortfall as an “unlawful underpayment of royalties,” Billboard reported.

Pandora denies the claims and has called them “plainly and unmistakably wrong.” In its own motion, the company argued that the MLC is “abusing” its authority by pressing unconstitutional claims that go beyond its legal role of collecting and distributing royalties, according to Billboard. None of the MLC’s allegations has been proven in court.

How both sides responded

Pandora told Billboard the order “was not a determination on the merits of the case.” “Pandora is committed to compensating songwriters and publishers in accordance with the law, and we remain confident in our position,” the company said.

An MLC spokesperson said the group “welcomes” the ruling because it “means our case continues.” “The MLC will continue to pursue this action to enforce Pandora’s royalty payment obligations under the statutory license, supported by the substantial evidence that the MLC has compiled,” the spokesperson told Billboard.

Why the case matters for streaming royalties

The Pandora MLC lawsuit turns on the interactive-versus-noninteractive line, which determines which royalty rates a service owes. A verdict could affect how other platforms design ad-supported features. Royalty fights have become common across the music business, from the MLC’s 2024 suit accusing Spotify of using audiobook bundles to cut mechanical royalties, a case whose core claims were later dismissed, per Billboard, to artist disputes like Jermaine Dupri’s royalty fight with Sony Music.

SiriusXM also won dismissal of a separate SoundExchange lawsuit over recorded-music royalties last summer after a judge ruled SoundExchange lacked authority to sue, a finding now on appeal, Billboard reported.

What’s next

No trial date has been set in the Pandora MLC lawsuit, and the two sides could still settle, according to Billboard. For more on the business of music, see our music news.