By Joseph Ax NEW YORK, April 17 (Reuters) - Several major U.S. music companies sued Pandora Media Inc on Thursday, accusing the online streaming service of cheating them out of royalties by playing thousands of pre-1972 recordings without paying royalties. The music in question, from musicians such as the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Marvin Gaye and Fleetwood Mac, is "some of the most iconic music in the world," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit, filed in New York state court in Manhattan, seeks unspecified damages and an immediate halt to Pandora's "massive and continuing unauthorized commercial exploitation" of older songs. The plaintiffs include Vivendi SA's Capitol Records Inc and UMG Recordings Inc, Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp and ABKCO Music & Records Inc. Pandora did not immediately respond to requests for comment.