[wmf]

I can't speak to Pandora specifically, but Spotify is often pitched as an alternative to buying music and it also pays comically low royalties.

[notatoad]

Comically low compared to what? Sure, compared to a CD sale they are low, but the royalties on a CD sale cover all future listens, by all future owners of that disc. Royalties on radio playback pay for one listen by tens of thousands of people. Royalties from a stream pay for one listen by one person, of course they are low.