Before it was made illegal, music companies used to pay Radio Stations in order to get their music on the air! When Pandora/etc argue that it adds popularity t

Before it was made illegal, music companies used to pay Radio Stations in order to get their music on the air! When Pandora/etc argue that it adds popularity to music, they aren't lying- You can see this effect in the national music sales numbers- Music used to be primarily local- A DJ in a regional market would start playing songs, and they'd catch on in that area. You can track songs such as Louie Louie, which started on the west coast and moved east.