MARKETPLACE | Why Pandora Bought a Radio Station in South Dakota | June 12, 2013 | Chris Bavitz from the Clinic spoke with Marketplace‘s Shannon Mullen about Pandora‘s novel approach to licensing public performance rights in musical compositions — i.e., buying a radio station in South Dakota in an effort to take advantage of rates available from ASCAP to terrestrial broadcasters. In an Op-Ed posted June 11, 2013 to The Hill‘s Congress Blog, Pandora’s Assistant General Counsel Christopher Harrison explained that the move came in response to perceived discriminatory treatment on the part of ASCAP, which required Pandora to pay more than some of its competitors for public performance licenses.