Pandora Finds A Friend At The FCC

4-27-15

It was back in June of 2013 that Pandora announced it was purchasing KXMZ-FM, in Rapid City, South Dakota from Jeff Warshaw's Connoisseur Media for $600,000. That sale has been stuck at the FCC because Pandora could not prove it was within the FCC's 25 percent foreign ownership limits. Now, with all the talk about loosening up those foreign ownership regulations, Bloomberg is reporting that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wants his colleagues to grant Pandora a special waiver to close on the station.

The reason Pandora wants to own a radio station is so it can say to companies such as ASCAP and BMI that it should be treated like radio when it comes to the fees it pays. Pandora has been fighting with music licensing companies over rates for years. At the time this was all going on , ASCAP EVP of Licensing Vincent Candilora told Radio Ink, "The RMLC license was designed for terrestrial radio stations and groups which earned the overwhelming share of their revenues from traditional radio, not an online streaming service that buys a radio station that ranks only 255th in the U.S. market as a ploy to undercut songwriters." And ASCAP Senior VP Richard Reimer told Bloomberg Pandora was simply trying to create a loophole.

(4/28/2015 12:38:36 PM)
You are right El Barto. Just so they can be just like radio and not pay a PENNY for the songs they air on radio. At Least Pandora actually pays artist.
(4/28/2015 9:10:43 AM)
Hey Pandora - if you're so much better than terrestrial radio, why do you want in? Oh, just to be slimeballs who rip off artists by trying to create legal loopholes? Hope it blows up in your face and artists pull all rights to stream their music for your slimeball tactics.

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Pandora Revenue Up 19% In Q1

4-23-15

For the first quarter of 2015 Pandora reported total revenue of $230.8 million, up 19 percent from 2014. Advertising revenue made up $178.7 million of that total: $181.1 million came from moble, up 23 percent, and local advertising revenue was $43.3 million, up 67 percent. There are now 3.8 million paid Pandora subscribers. The company did report a loss of $48.3 million in Q1, widening from $28.9 million a year earlier. The company expects to cross the billion-dollar revenue mark in 2015, forecasting a total of between $1.16 to $1.18 billion. The company also gave guidance of $280 to $285 million for Q2.

(4/24/2015 12:06:57 PM)
Go Pandora! Fuck radio!

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Pandora Now Has 138 Salespeople

4-23-15

And that's just the sellers in the local markets where they compete against you for radio dollars. The company actually has hundreds more selling the product and is also ramping up its efforts to implement programmatic buying in the very near future. In addition to all the sellers, the company also reported it now has 194 software engineers working at the company, an increase of 50 percent, doing product development.

(4/24/2015 12:08:17 PM)
Go Pandora! Fuck radio!

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Pandora Dominates U.S. Streaming

3-12-2015

Pandora remains the dominant player in the increasingly crowded streaming space. The latest research from Triton Digital shows Pandora's commanding lead with over 2.2 million active streams, over 1.1 million active starts, and average time spent listening at 0.61. Spotify's active streams pales in comparison, at one-third Pandora's rate. The number three streamer, iHeartMedia, garnered just a hair over 15 percent of Pandora's active streams.

Looking only at the time spent listening, iHeart overtakes Pandora at nearly three-quarters of an hour. Spotify's session starts logged at about half the rate of Pandora. In raw numbers, with all the averages taken into consideration, the top five shake out like this: Pandora, Spotify, iHeart, CBS, and finally Cumulus.

The big question remains: How will all of this change once Apple throws its hat into the streaming ring with its much publicized upcoming Beats service? Chances are that even with Apple's brand and war chest, the Cupertino company will have a very tough slog in the very competitive streaming space that Pandora now dominates. Read the full Triton report Here.

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Ten Questions For Pandora

3-5-15

There's no denying that Pandora is making great gains with consumers. It's second to none when it comes to online listening. Happy consumers is certainly a good thing but it's not the only thing that translates into a successful business. On Thursday, Pandora held it's second annual analyst day, and on his blog BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield had 10 questions for the online pure play. They range from increasing spotloads to its marketing effectiveness to why Pandora does not use the geolocation features embedded in smartphones to determine a user's location for ad-targeting? Read Greenfield's blog HERE

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Pandora Targeting CRM For Artists

2-19-2015

Pandora's AMP artist management platform hopes to become the app that artists need to track analytics. Fortune reports that with the AMP platform, launched in October, the company hopes to be that service that will empower bands to see their listeners' locations and other detailed data about fans, helping musicians plan their tours. With the announcement of Pandora's Artist Audio Messaging, the Pandora plan is fleshed out even further.

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Pandora Brings Back Annual Billing

12-19-14

It was back in March that Pandora ended its one-time annual charge for paid subscribers. Pandora notified users on Twitter yesterday that the annual subscription was back "due to high demand." There's no discount for the annual payment, it only saves users from seeing a recurring charge. Existing subs paying $3.99 per month can now pay the one-time $48 charge. New subs will pay $4.99 or $55.

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Pandora More Than Doubles Local Advertising Revenue

10-23-14
The Internet Pure-play reported Q3 revenue of $239.6 million on Thursday afternoon, which is an increase of 40% over the same three months in 2013. Mobile revenue increased 50% to $188 million and now makes up about 78% of Pandora's overall revenue. And the big number radio should be looking at was the local revenue number which is up 118% to $41.8 million. That's where Pandora directly targets radio's advertising dollars. Pandora also says it now has 9.06% of all radio listening in the United States. Pandora now has 109 local salespeople in 37 markets. An inside sales office addresses more than another 150 DMA's with more sales investment on the way. CFO Mike Herring said, "Our sales force is operating very well. Pricing has been very strong and we are hitting sell out points in certain markets as advertisers compete for prime positions.."

(10/24/2014 11:45:48 AM)
Wonder how much of that is coming directly out of radio's pocket?

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Pandora Strikes Deal With Ford Australia

10-10-14

The rollout down under will include the Fiesta ST and Focus ST and Ford Kuga. Other lines to follow include the Fiesta, Focus, Ranger and Transit range by early 2015. Pandora ANZ director of business development Rick Gleave said, "The car is the traditional home of radio, and with Pandora now seamlessly incorporated in many models of Ford vehicles, we can ensure our listeners continue enjoying Pandora no matter where they are commuting or travelling. For the first time, listeners will enjoy the fully integrated suite of Pandora features, replicated from their mobile to the dashboard in their vehicle, ensuring driver focus remains where it should be, on the road." Commercial radio reaches approximately 60 per cent of Australians in their cars each week with listening in cars accounting for approximately 35 per cent of all music listening.

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More Time Spent With Pandora Than Facebook

9-19-14

For the first time, eMarketer broke out time spent with Pandora and says in 2014 U.S. adults will spend 7.1 percent of their daily time listening to Pandora. The time spent daily with Facebook is 6 percent. And perhaps the folks at Pandora now know how radio feels. Advertisers will only allocate 1.4 percent of their digital ad dollars to Pandora, a fraction of what they devote to Facebook. Facebook will receive 10 percent of the U.S digital advertising dollars. eMarketer says the reason for the big difference is that Pandora is often on in the background, and users can tune out the ads or simply not hear them.

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Pandora Makes Big Deal With BMG

9-11-14

Internet radio pureplay Pandora has made a deal with international rights management company BMG, with the agreement giving Pandora a multi-year U.S. license for BMG's catalog of BMI and ASCAP music. Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews said the deal "ensures that we can continue expanding the audience for one of the world's most storied music catalogs and demonstrates that collaboration between the music industry and Pandora creates opportunities and value for publishers and songwriters."

 Pandora is the longtime leader in Internet radio, attracting as much as two-thirds of all online listening, while BMG represents songwriters who've written hits for such artists as Adele, Jay-Z, One Direction, Rihanna, and the Beach Boys.

BMG Chrysalis North American President/Marketing & Creative Laurent Hubert said, "BMG looks forward to a prosperous relationship with Pandora in which our songwriters can benefit from their platform," adding, "We also want to take this opportunity to emphasize our strong, continuing relationship with the US performing rights organizations as they play a vital role for songwriters and music publishers alike."

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Is Pandora Growing At Radio's Expense?

8-13-14

Not according to NuVoodoo Media Services. The company says it interviewed nearly 1,100 people, ages 14-54, in all PPM markets, to understand how consumers interact with Pandora and radio; more specifically, whether users cut down on the amount of time spent with radio as they increase time with Pandora. Here's what they discovered...

The company concluded that 62 percent of Pandora users who listen for at least 30 minutes per day are spending just as much time with radio. Vice President of Research for NuVoodoo Leigh Jacobs said, ?These latest results validate our hypothesis that longer experience with Pandora doesn?t equate to less listening to broadcast radio. While those who?ve spent more time with Pandora tend to increase their daily TSL from the service, they claim not to reduce their TSL with broadcast radio.?

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ASCAP: Our Future is at Stake in Pandora Case

8-4-14

On Monday an unredacted version of ASCAP's appeal in its case against Pandora was unsealed in federal court, according to The Tennessean. The organization is in a bitter dispute with Pandora over rates the pure-play must pay songrwriters and publishing companies. Pandora now pays 1.85 percent of its revenue and ASCAP wants that number to be closer to 3 percent. ASCAP is also worried that a lower court ruling that allows publishers to negotiate directly with publishers will destroy the company. Here's some of what ASCAP filed in court...

"This is an appeal from two district court decisions that, if not reversed, threaten the viability of (ASCAP), this nation's oldest and largest performing rights organization," ASCAP argued in the brief. "Such an outcome would have a profoundly negative effect on songwriters, music publishers and music users themselves, disrupting the marketplace for the licensing of music performing rights that has functioned for many decades as a result of the well-established efficiencies provided by an ASCAP license."

ASCAP is arguing that the lower court misinterpreted the law and publishers should not be allowed to negotiate directly, which some believe, could lead to collusion, a claim the D.O.J is now investigating as part of its review of the ASCAP and BMU consent decrees. "The district court's ruling is also at odds with the history of ASCAP's consent decree, which shows that ASCAP and the Department of Justice deliberately removed from the decree the very prohibition on members reserving exclusive rights for themselves that the district court imposed."

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Pandora Q2 Revenue Jumps 38%. Net Loss $11.7 Million

7-24-14

For the second quarter of 2014, Pandora's total revenue was $218.9 million, up 38 percent from Q2 2013. Advertising revenue was $177.3 million, an increase of  39 percent over 2013. Subscription and other revenue was $41.6 million, up 35 percent. Revenue generated from mobile is now $167.5 million up 51 percent from 2013 and now makes up 76 percent of Pandora's total ad revenue. Local advertising grew 144 percent in the quarter to $35.3 million. Pandora's (net) loss for the quarter was $11.7 million. The company also gave guidance for Q3 and expects revenue to come in between $235-$240 million which would be an increase of 39 percent over 2013.

(7/25/2014 11:44:03 AM)

I don't understand the fascination with Pandora. It is a losing business model.

Anyone can duplicate what they are doing. I am a former sicentific computer programmer for the military, and now general manager of a network of radio station. Duplicating and improving upon Pandora's framework would be easy.

This is not a business model that will be successful as it is far too easy to duplicate.

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Pandora Hires Music Industry Executive

7-22-14

Pandora has hired Lars Murray as Vice President of Industry Relations. Murray comes to Pandora with more than twenty years of experience in the music industry, most recently as VP of Digital Media at Columbia Records where he led a digital marketing operation focused on helping artists leverage digital platforms to grow their audiences. Murray will lead Pandora's collaboration with the music industry. Pandora says the company is looking at leveraging its scale and technology to create opportunity and value for artists, labels and the entire music ecosystem.

Murray said, "I'm tremendously excited to dive in and help unleash the power of Internet radio in new ways. Pandora is ushering in a new era for music, with unmatched scale and personalization that can empower the industry in a way that has never before been possible. I am thrilled to be part of what continues to be a dramatic transformation of how great music and artists find their audience."

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Pandora Gets The Importance Of Creative

7-9-14

We've written many stories in this space about how important creative is, how vital it is that commercials stations air have a high probability of succeeding. And that all comes down to the creative. Bad commercials will not work, no matter how good the schedule. It's that R.O.I. thing so many in radio have been talking about and studying lately. If creative is a weakness in radio, Pandora is starting to attack it. And we all know where Pandora hopes their new money will come from. Your radio station. The Internet pure-play is on the creative bandwagon. Here are the details...

In the past year alone, Pandora has increased its creative department by 70 percent to 60 employees, according to The Wall Street Journal. Pandora's Senior VP of Strategic Solutions Heidi Browning is quoted as saying, ?Our mission is to position Pandora as more than just a media buy. Advertisers want to be more involved and understand the new frontiers. That gives us the new opportunities.?

(7/10/2014 7:49:02 AM)
Investing real payroll into creative is what makes Pandora truly dangerous to broadcast radio. The few independent stations and regional groups that have done it are significantly outperforming the rest of the industry. Just ask Jerry Lee in Philadelphia or Don Jacobs in Sioux Falls.
(7/10/2014 4:21:19 AM)
Any broadcast organization that can produce listenable and effective Creative will be the one that is blazing new trails into, so far, uncharted territory.
That organization will also experience success beyond any traditional radio executive's imagination.

Warning: There is a great deal more to this than hiring gag writers. This is serious business for serious people.

Oh, and by the way, it represents the other half of radio's very last chance.

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Pandora Releases Final Monthly Numbers

6-4-14

In May, Pandora says it had 9.13 percent of all U.S radio listening, that's down from 9.28 percent last month. Listener hours for May were 1.73 billion, up from 1.7 million in April. Active listeners in May were 77.0 million, up from 76 million in April. Pandora announced in March that this would be its final monthly metrics release. The company will release quarterly numbers during its earnings calls.

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Pandora Nearly Doubles Price For 12 Month Sub

4-24-14

CFO Mike Herring made the announcement on the Thursday afternoon earnings call that 12 months of Pandora will now cost $4.99 per month (an increase from $3.99 per month). A Pandora One subscription allows a user to listen without commercials. At $59.88 for twelve months, that's nearly double the $36.00 annual price. Until now users could pay for one year at the $36.00 price. Pandora is eliminating the annual subscription and will now only offer the $4.99 per-month subscription. Anyone paying $3.99 will be grandfathered in.

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Stock Drops After Pandora Reports

4-24-14

Despite increasing revenue 54 percent in the first quarter of 2014, Pandora was trading down as much as 9 percent in after-hour trading Thursday night. The company reported $180.1 million in Q1 revenue, 74 percent ($134.1 million) of which is now coming from mobile revenue. The company reported a loss of approximately $29 million, or about 13 cents per share. Pandora expects revenue in the range of $213 million to $218 million in Q2 and $880 million to $900 million for the full year. The company also expects EPS in the range of flat to 3 cents for the second quarter, and 14 cents to 18 cents for the full year.

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Pandora Target: 350 Salespeople by 2015

4-22-14

Crain's New York Business says a new 50,000 square foot office in New York City already has 200 Pandora employees, many of them salespeople who are radio refugees. No doubt with the recent Clear Channel sales layoffs the people pool to pluck from just increased for the Internet pure-play. The Crain's story is actually one of the few published articles that includes someone who doubts the listener numbers Pandora produces every month including that Pandora is the number one station in many markets.

Horizon Media's managing director of audio and promotions Lauren Russo says she does not buy that Pandora is one station and its claim to be number one in some markets across the country. The proof will be in the measurement numbers. And at some point in the future those numbers will be provided by Nielsen. Although Nielsen has told Radio Ink that the Pandora numbers will not be made available side-by-side with Radio's numbers so a fair comparison can be made. And, the reasoning for that is Nielsen has said Pandora is not radio. Of course, that can change by the time Nielsen produces its final product.

In the Crain's piece, Russo says she would like Pandora to be measured by Nielsen, just as the terrestrial stations are, so that all the numbers would come from one methodology instead of two. Whether Nielsen believes Pandora is radio, whether radio believes Pandora is radio or whether Pandora executives believe Pandora is radio makes no difference to the consumer. It's clear the consumer could care less what we call it. And it's clear Pandora is hiring radio salespeople and coming after radio's $17 billion in ad revenue. In 2013 Pandora lost $41 million, despite a 56% growth in revenue, to $638 million.

(4/22/2014 5:35:34 AM)
www.advancedhiring.com

So typical of radio thinkers, Eric.
"No doubt with the recent Clear Channel sales layoffs the people pool to pluck from.."

A lot of smart radio people at Clear Channel "get" that second stringer salespeople are always second stringer salespeople -- that's why they clean house.

But old radio guys still think "previous sales experience" is so critical.

Any Radio Ink readers who want a fresh approach to sales hiring?

Alan
www.advancedhiring.com

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