Pandora to block UK access

If you are one of the UK-based users of Pandora's personalisable online radio station then you will be unable to access the service from this time next week.

The website has failed in its attempts to negotiate a deal with record labels in the US that would have allowed UK users to continue accessing the site and must block access as of 15 January.

Officially, Pandora is only for surfers in the US but only requires anyone registering with the site to input a ZIP code. By entering a random series of numbers visitors elsewhere in the world are able to use the service.

An email was sent to UK users of the service by the site's founder Tim Westergren, who was clearly unhappy with the situation.

"It continues to astound me and the rest of the team here that the industry is not working more constructively to support the growth of services that introduce listeners to new music and that are totally supportive of paying fair royalties to the creators of music," he wrote.

Westergren warned that the net result of the move could be an explosion in levels of piracy.

"The only consequence of failing to support companies like Pandora that are attempting to build a sustainable radio business for the future will be the continued explosion of piracy, the continued constriction of opportunities for working musicians, and a worsening drought of new music for fans," he said.

www.pandora.com

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