Pandora Radio

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Pandora Radio Pandora logo blue.png
PandoraScreenshot.png
Pandora homepage in September 2011
Type
Public
Traded as
NYSE: P
Founded
January 2000; 16 years ago
Oakland, California, U.S.
Headquarters
Oakland, California, U.S.
No. of locations
26
Area served
Australia, New Zealand, United States
Founder(s)
Will Glaser
Jon Kraft
Tim Westergren
Key people
Tim Westergren (CEO)
Tom Conrad (CPO)[1]
Services
Internet Radio
Revenue
$920,800,000 (FY 2014)[2]
Employees
1,300+
Subsidiaries
Rdio (as of December 22, 2015), Next Big Sound, Ticketfly
Website
pandora.com
Written in
Java
Alexa rank
Decrease 321 (December 2015)[3]
Advertising
Banner ads, Video ads, Audio ads
Registration
Optional (required to save stations)
Users 250 million registered (2014),[4] 79.4 million active (2015)[5]
Available in
English
Current status Active
Native client(s) on
Universal Windows App ( Windows 10 mobile , Windows 10)
, Windows Phone , iOS , Android
Pandora Internet Radio (also known as Pandora Radio or simply Pandora) is a musi
c streaming and automated music recommendation service powered by the Music Geno
me Project. The service, operated by Pandora Media, Inc., is available only in A
ustralia, New Zealand, and the United States. The service plays musical selectio
ns of a certain genre based on the user's artist selection. The user then provid
es positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are take
n into account when Pandora selects future songs.
Contents
1 History
1.1 Acquisitions
2 Features
2.1 Streaming
2.2 Limitations
2.3 Mobile devices
2.4 Other features
3 Technical information
4 Business model
5 Royalties
6 Critical reception
7 Advertising
7.1 Revenue
7.2 Pitch to advertisers
7.3 Methods of advertising
7.4 Market segments
8 Internet radio competitors

9 Owned and Operated Stations

10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 External links
History
In 2000, Pandora Media Inc. began as Savage Beast Technologies, and was founded
by Will Glaser, Jon Kraft and Tim Westergren.[6][1]:46[a] The Music Genome Proje
ct technology was developed by Glaser with musical input from Westergren. The id
ea was to create a separate, individualized radio station for each user having j
ust the "good" music on it, with none of the "junk" that other users like. In or
der to achieve that goal, they had to bring different styles of music together i
nto a predictable pattern for analysis. They created 400 specifications for each
song that is then compared to the listener's preferences in order to suggest ot
her songs or artists with similar characteristics.
Initially the company pursued a transitional strategy of technology licensing to
third parties including AOL, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, and Tower Records. The c
ompany struggled to reach profitability under this model and nearly failed. In 2
004 the company returned to its initial vision of producing customized radio sta
tions and changed its name to Pandora Media. The Pandora.com domain was purchase
d and launched in September 2005; at the time, the domain was listed for $15,000
USD however the actual price is not known.[7] The website began as only a paid
service but quickly changed to an advertising service to make it also available
free for users.
In 2011, Pandora launched its IPO on the NYSE and is listed as 'P'.[8] On March
7, 2013, Pandora chief executive Joe Kennedy announced he would step down from h
is position, but remain until his successor is named.[9] His successor was Micro
soft executive Brian McAndrews.[1]:46
In April 2013, Pandora announced that their radio streaming service had passed 2
00 million users, about 70 million of whom were active monthly.[10] By December
2013, Pandora was noted as accounting for 70% of all Internet radio and 8% of to
tal radio listening in the United States.[1]:46
On September 1, 2013, Pandora removed a 40-hour-per-month limitation for free mo
bile listening.[11] In December 2013, iTunes was described as Pandora's "biggest
existential threat".[1]:46
In early 2015, Pandora removed lyrics from song pages, but returned them by July
. On April 16, 2015, song samples were officially removed. Also introduced was t
he ability to receive updates on the player of the listener's favorite artists.
They also redesigned the thumbs up/down feature to allow the listener to undo th
eir action. By January 2015, songs played on Pandora had received over 50 billio
n thumbs up from users.[12]
Acquisitions
On June 11, 2013, Pandora announced that it would purchase the conventional FM r
adio station KXMZ in Rapid City, South Dakota.[13][14]
On October 7, 2015, Pandora announced that it has acquired independent ticketing
agency, Ticketfly for $450 Million.[15]
In November 2015, streaming music service Rdio, founded by Skype co-founders Jan
us Friis and Niklas Zennstroem, declared bankruptcy and sold its assets to Pando
ra for $75 million in an all-cash deal.[16]
Features

Streaming
A station is set by specifying an artist or song, or a combination of multiple i
tems of any kind in a single station. Listeners can tune into pre-made genre sta
tions, other users' stations, or create their own stations based on their musica
l interests. Each track played can be responded to with favorable (thumbs up) or
unfavorable (thumbs down) buttons, which determine if it should be played, and
how much should similarly classified songs be played in the station. A second ne
gative response to the same artist will ban that artist from the selected statio
n unless the user has marked the artist positively on another occasion or if tha
t artist is listed under the station's variety. No response is applicable to mus
ical attributes or to albums. An unfavorable response immediately stops play of
the track. Clicking the thumbs down, or skipping to the next song too many times
in a row will result in a short ban of skips. Pandora also utilizes short adver
tisements in between every couple of songs.
In addition, a menu is provided with the choices: I'm tired of this song (allowi
ng users to remove a song from the station temporarily, although it counts as a
skip); Why was this song selected? (allowing users to learn more about the compo
sition of each song); Move song to another station; New Station; and Bookmark. A
Buy button is located at the top of each song block as well. From there, listen
ers can click on links to buy the song from iTunes or Amazon.
There is a setting in each member's account regarding whether the user wants son
gs with explicit lyrics played. This, however, does not apply exclusively to alb
ums with the Parental Advisory label, as other songs with censored versions will
have that version played. An example is "Jet Airliner" by the Steve Miller Band
, which had one word censored for radio play. With explicit lyrics off, that ver
sion will play, despite the album itself not having a PA label.
While listening, users are offered the ability to buy the songs or albums at var
ious online retailers. Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when
selecting the next song. These 400 attributes are combined into larger groups c
alled focus traits. There are 2,000 focus traits. Examples of these are rhythm s
yncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies, and displayed instrumental proficienc
y.
The service has two subscription plans: a free subscription supported by adverti
sements, and a $54.89 USD/year or $4.99 USD/month subscription without ads. Ther
e are also ads in Pandora Mobile for mobile phones and the Pandora in The Home c
omputer appliance. As of October 2014, less than 5% of active listeners were pay
ing subscribers.[17] As of the IPO in 2011, Pandora had 800,000 tracks from 80,0
00 artists in its library, and 80 million users.[18] By November 2014, Pandora h
ad approximately doubled its library size, topping 1.5 million songs.[19] As of
June 2015, Pandora had 79.4 million active users.[5]
Limitations
To comply with the requirements and protections offered by the DMCA, Pandora ser
ves users only in the United States, New Zealand and Australia. Initially, this
was enforced lightly, by requiring a US ZIP code at registration; but, since May
3, 2007, Pandora has used IP addresses to block users from non-complying countr
ies.[20]
Rewind or repeat is not permitted. Until May 2009, six skips per station were al
lowed per hour, further limited to 72 skips every 24 hours; giving a "thumbs dow
n" response, or a "don't play for a month" response, count as "skips". On 21 May
2009, the skip limit was altered such that it counts total skips from all stati
ons with the limitation of twelve total skips every 24 hours. If a listener give
s a song a thumbs-down or "don't play for a month" after the limit has been exce
eded, the song will continue to play; it is only after the song has completed th

at it becomes subject to the listener's restrictions. This limit was not applied
to the Vista gadget available until Microsoft ended support of the sidebar on V
ista and Windows 7. The gadget also featured an advertisement at all times. As t
he gadget was not a part of any specific browser, the advertisement could not be
blocked. Play of a single artist is limited, as Pandora provides similar music,
not a play-on-demand service.
As of 2009, the mini player is only available with Pandora's subscription servic
e. Free accounts include advertising. These include simple interruptions, with t
he ad listed on the stream; advertising skins, which do not interrupt the stream
; and popup ads. The Vista player had no advertisements.
Initially, users with free accounts could listen to 40 hours of music a month, a
nd could pay $.99 per month for unlimited streaming. In September 2011, Pandora
removed the 40 hour listening limit.[21] This 40 hour limit on free listening wa
s re-introduced in March 2013 for mobile devices.[22] However, this limit was re
moved once more on September of the same year.[11]
As of November 2013, paid subscribers are allotted thirty skips in all every 24
hours alongside the six skips per hour for each station. This limit was not appl
ied to the mini player. The mini player has the following limitations:
Songs cannot be moved to another station.
Songs or artists cannot be seeded.
Six skips per hour per station
Mobile devices
Pandora iOS App
Pandora is available on the iPhone. It is ad-supported and retains the original
skip limits. Pandora is also available on Google Android OS (for tablets and mob
ile phones), and BlackBerry 10 handsets via the Amazon app store.
The Windows Mobile client is limited to a select number of handsets; however, th
e installer is available from 3rd party sources and works fine or with only mino
r display glitches on most devices. In March 2013, it became available on Window
s Phone 8 as a free app with ad-free streaming until 2014.[23]
The Pandora for BlackBerry OS (7.1 and earlier) application is limited to AT&T,
Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Boost Mobile, and U.S. Cellular carriers, but visitin
g the Pandora website directly other BlackBerry users have been successful in do
wnloading the application.
Other features
Pandora Podcast (2006 2009), a musicology show that updated every few weeks in
the form of a podcast. It was hosted by Kevin Seal of the band Griddle. Each sh
ow covered a specific music topic, and featured guest musicians and Pandora expe
rts who normally analyzed the music featured on the Pandora website.[24]
A Facebook application developed to allow users to put their Pandora radio s
tations on their Facebook profiles. However, in 2012 with the release of Faceboo
k's auto-publish tool Pandora decided to remove their application from Facebook.
[25]
Pandora released a sidebar gadget for Windows Vista and Windows 7. This play
er retained the original skip limit, had no ads, and did not affect the hourly l
istening limit in effect at the time. However, many of the features (such as abo
ut the artist or adding to the station directly) were not included. Originally,
an ad for Netflix was featured on the bottom of the player, but it was later rem
oved. When support for the sidebar was ended, Pandora discontinued support for t
he gadget. Pandora One's mini player is very similar to the gadget, although the
original gadget was available to listeners with a free account while the mini p

layer is exclusive to Pandora One.

Pandora can be played on home CE devices such as WD TV, Roku, Google TV, Xbo
x One, audio-video receivers, and Blu-ray players. Many HDTVs can also stream Pa
ndora.
Pandora can be played in some vehicles, including but not limited to cars ma
de by BMW, Buick, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercedes-Ben
z, MINI, Nissan, Scion, and Toyota. Some implementations have the ability to use
voice commands to do things like change stations and give feedback on a song. A
dditionally, it is possible to purchase multimedia systems for your vehicle if i
t is not one of those that has been manufactured with the system already in the
vehicle. These radio systems have the ability to use the Pandora app and have th
e same features as the systems in the vehicles that are manufactured with the sy
stems included (excluding voice command). These radio systems are manufactured b
y companies such as Advent, Alpine, Clarion, Jensen, JVC Mobile Entertainment, K
enwood, Pioneer, and Sony.
On the Web Pandora delivers 64kbit/s AAC+ for free listeners and 192kbit/s f
or Pandora One subscribers. On in-home devices Pandora plays 128kbit/s audio, wh
ereas mobile devices receive different rates depending on the device and network
capabilities, but "never more than 64kbps AAC+".[26] Pandora does not offer dig
ital music streaming in CD quality (e.g. FLAC 16-Bit/44.1 kHz).
In December 2015 Pandora announced that the app will be launched for the fou
rth-generation Apple TV on the tvOS App Store. Pandora for Apple TV is available
in the US, Australia, and New Zealand.[27]
Technical information
The Pandora media player is based on OpenLaszlo.[28] Pandora can also be accesse
d through many media streaming devices such as Roku, Reciva-based radios (from c
ompanies like Grace Digital, Sanyo, and Sangean), Frontier Silicon-based connect
ed audio systems, Slim Devices, Sonos,[29] and HEOS by Denon.[30] product(s). On
July 11, 2008, Pandora launched a mobile version of their software for the Appl
e iPhone and iPod Touch through the iTunes App Store. Pandora is also available
for Windows Phone, Android phones,[31] BlackBerry platforms, HP webOS (used on t
he Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, Palm Pre 2, and HP Veer). Pandora was the provider for M
SN Radio until MSN discontinued their internet radio service on June 18, 2008.[3
2] A modified version of Pandora has been made available for Sprint Nextel. Pand
ora is available on Comcast's X1/X2 cable TV products. A GNU/Linux based applica
tion, called Pithos, which is available for accessing Pandora Radio, is availabl
e for most distributions via their repositories and is also available to build f
rom source.
With a subscription to Pandora's One service, Windows and Mac users can download
a desktop application for Pandora that uses the Adobe Air[33] without using a w
eb browser to access Pandora. All the normal functionality is included such as t
humbs up/down, skip, pause and access to all channels on a user's account.
Business model
Pandora decided to be a consumer-oriented music discovery service, specifically
a non-interactive radio station. In the three months that ended October 31, 2011
, advertising comprised 88% of Pandora s total revenues;[34] a figure of 80% was r
eported for this metric in December 2013.[1] RPM (revenue per 1000s of hours) is
determined based on CPMs (cost per thousand impressions). CPMs are largely depe
ndent upon network effects and thus increase as a website scales and adds users.
As such, Pandora s strategy in order to allow for widespread distribution was to
offer a service unbundled from devices and transport. Pandora is currently worki
ng with system-on-chip manufacturers to embed its technologies on the chips they
sell to consumer electronics manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic.[3
5]
Pandora s cost structure is highly variable, with content acquisition costs repres

enting roughly 50% of total costs.[34] There are three main costs associated wit
h content acquisition. First, SoundExchange collects content fees on behalf of l
abels or artists on the recording themselves. These are by far the largest conte
nt acquisition costs.[citation needed] Second, Pandora pays licensing fees to ag
encies such as BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC in order to compensate composers, songwriter
s and publishers. Lastly, Pandora also pays Rovi for song and artist information
; this has recently been structured as a flat monthly fee.
High variable costs mean that Pandora does not have significant operating levera
ge, and in the next couple years might actually have negative operating leverage
due to an unfavorable shift in product mix towards mobile. Pandora is currently
estimated to monetize mobile hours at roughly one-ninth the rate of desktop hou
rs.[36] Since Pandora pays the same licensing cost per hour irrespective of the
user's platform, the net contribution to earnings per mobile hour is even more s
kewed with respect to contribution to earnings from desktop hours. Mobile revenu
es will improve over time as Pandora shifts from relying on third-party ad netwo
rks to selling ad inventory internally at premium rates.
In January 2011, Pandora met with investment banks to consider a possible $100 m
illion IPO.[37][38] The company filed with the SEC for a $100mm IPO on February
11, 2011 and officially began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker
symbol "P" on June 15, 2011 at a price of $16/share. This gave them a valuation
of nearly $2.6 billion.[39]
Pandora announced $80.8 million in total revenue for their first quarter of fisc
al 2012, which was up 58% over their previous year Q1 results. Of the $80.8 mill
ion, $70.6 million came from advertising, while the other $10.2 million came fro
m subscription. In addition, Pandora has seen a 62% advertising revenue increase
, and a 38% subscription revenue increase year-over-year.[40] However, the vast
majority of Pandora's users remain on the free, ad-supported model.
Royalties
In 2007, a federal panel agreed with a SoundExchange request and ordered a doubl
ing of the per-song performance royalty that Web radio stations pay to performer
s and record companies. Under this scheme, internet radio would pay double the r
oyalty paid by satellite radio.
Because of the passage of DMCA in 1998 that increased fees and asked for licensi
ng guarantees, the Pandora service is no longer available in countries other tha
n Australia, New Zealand and the United States.[41][42] These rulings affect all
U.S.-based Internet-based radio stations (terrestrial radio is not affected).
As of July 2008, Pandora was in talks with major music labels regarding royalty
issues to allow a return to the European market. Costs remain a concern because
of European royalty standards and a low demand for paid music services.[43]
In 2008, the founder of Pandora stated that the company may be on the verge of c
ollapse. Royalty fees account for a majority portion of Pandora's revenues. If a
n agreement between Pandora and SoundExchange had not been reached, it could hav
e meant the end of Pandora. "We're losing money as it is," said Tim Westergren.
"The moment we think this problem in Washington is not going to get solved, we h
ave to pull the plug because all we're doing is wasting money."[44]
On September 30, 2008, a bill was passed by the U.S. House and Senate to allow s
ites like Pandora to continue negotiations with SoundExchange into 2009.
On July 7, 2009, Pandora announced that an agreement had been reached regarding
the royalty issue, which would significantly reduce the royalty rate, making it
possible for Pandora to stay in business. Also announced was that free listening
would be limited to 40 hours per month, but can be extended to unlimited for th

at month for USD$0.99. "The revised royalties are quite high," the company's blo
g notes, "higher in fact than any other form of radio".[45] The extended listeni
ng fee differs from "upgrading", which also disables advertisements, increases t
he bitrate from 64 to 192 kbps, and provides a dedicated music player (as oppose
d to listening through browser). This service, known as "Pandora One", costs $36
and is billed annually.[46] Pandora has since introduced an option to purchase
Pandora One subscriptions on a monthly basis at a rate of $3.99 per month.[47] A
lso, in September 2013, Pandora began working with HitBliss to make Pandora One
subscriptions available for HitBliss earned-payment.[48]
With an update to the Pandora player in September 2011, the 40 hour cap was exte
nded to 320 hours.[21][49]
On November 22, 2011, Pandora reported its Q3 earnings. Royalty costs accounted
for 50% of revenue, slightly better than expected. Its revenue, most of it from
advertising, continues to rise at respectable rates. Not only has Pandora attrac
ted more users but the average number of hours per user have also increased. Pan
dora now accounts for an estimated 4% of total US listening hours. As Pandora gr
ows, it hopes to gain leverage on music labels and drive royalty costs down.[50]
On December 9, 2011, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, announced Spotify Radio woul
d offer an unlimited number of stations and unlimited skips. Though Pandora's us
age is 70% mobile, the Spotify Radio app competes against Pandora's mobile marke
t.[51]
Pandora CEO Tim Westergren has supported the The Internet Radio Fairness Act or
IRFA (H.R. 6480/S. 3609), which would reduce the company's royalty payments to t
he performers by 80 percent.[52]
On November 5, 2012, Pandora filed suit in federal district court against ASCAP
over royalty fees.[53] In the suit, the company sought to advocate for lower lic
ensing fees on all the songs represented by the ASCAP's 435,000 members.[54] On
February 27, 2013, Pandora announced a 40-hour-per-month limit on free mobile li
stening. Pandora CEO Tim Westergren cited escalating royalty costs as the reason
for the mobile cap.[55]
In a ruling made public earlier this year, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled t
hat Pandora s rate paid to ASCAP should remain the same 1.85%. She cited (p. 97) trou
bling coordination between two of the biggest publishing companies (Sony and UMPG
) and ASCAP that alludes to core antitrust concern in the industry. [56]
After arguing that both ASCAP and BMI were showing bias towards international br
oadcasters who own terrestrial radio stations, Pandora announced on June 11, 201
3 that it would attempt to acquire KXMZ, a radio station in South Dakota, under
the presumption that doing so would allow it to access the same preferential lic
ensing terms offered to services such as iHeartRadio (which is owned by iHeartMe
dia, Inc., itself America's largest radio broadcaster).[13][14] The move was cri
ticized by David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers Association, wh
o declared that Pandora was now "at war with songwriters," and had lost its cred
ibility because it was resorting to "lawsuits and gimmicks" to make its point. H
owever, a member of Public Knowledge praised the move, by stating that it was "a
perfect example of the twisted incentives and strange results we get from a mus
ic licensing system that is based on who wants a license instead of just what th
ey want to do with the music they re using."[57][58] ASCAP also objected to the de
al, filing a petition to deny with the FCC. The organization argued that the acq
uisition was not in the public interest because of Pandora's intent to use it as
a "bargaining chip" for royalty payments. ASCAP also alleged that Pandora did n
ot provide enough information about its ownership structure, failing to prove th
at less than 25% of the company was owned by foreign interests. On January 14, 2
014, the FCC denied the acquisition until Pandora "demonstrate[s] adequate suppo

rt for its foreign ownership compliance certification."[59][60]

On September 1, 2013, Pandora removed the 40-hour-per-month limit on free mobile
listening (originally announced on February 27, 2013). Pandora stated that it w
as able to make this change "thanks to the rapid progress of its mobile advertis
ing."[61]
In 2014, Pandora signed an agreement with some music copyright owners for lower
royalties in exchange for more frequent streaming of songs. Though not illegal,
this practice raised comparisons to payola, which is illegal payment for airplay
on terrestrial radio.[62]
Critical reception
In May 2010, Pandora was named in Lead411's 2010 Hottest San Francisco Companies
list.[63] In 2013, Entertainment Weekly compared a number of music services and
granted Pandora a "B-", writing, "Free streaming radio, $36 a year to go ad-fre
e. Launched in 2005, Pandora is available on just about every platform. There's
no on-demand, though, and stations tend to draw from a relatively small pool of
albums."[64] As of March 2014, the annual option was eliminated, and the $3.99 m
onthly plan was the only way to get Pandora One. The price rose to $4.99 a month
in July 2014. The annual subscription was brought back and is now $54.89 USD/ye
ar.
Advertising
Before Pandora introduced advertising it
ervice without commercials. However, the
st U.S. consumers and the company had to
offer a free service. Then, in December
nt.[65]

initially offered a subscription-only s

idea of paying did not sit well with mo
consider alternative business models to
2005 Pandora sold its first advertiseme

In 2015, Pandora began playing more advertisements per hour in certain geographi
es and demographics. Pandora normally plays no more than 3 advertisements per ho
ur for free users.[66]
Revenue
Pandora became fairly popular within just two years. Starting from 2010 to 2012
Pandora's registered users had increased from 45 million to 125 million. The com
pany's revenue increased from $55 million to $274 million, in which a majority o
f it from advertising. In order to appeal to a large audience of consumers, Pand
ora offers ad-free access for $36 a year.[67] During its 2011 fiscal year, Pando
ra reported $138 million in revenue with a $1.8 million net loss, excluding the
cost of a special dividend associated with the IPO.[68] Overall, Pandora control
s 78 percent of Internet radio, and it has a 9.3 percent share of the U.S. publi
c radio. Finally, in 2013 industry-wide total radio ad revenue increased to $17.
6 billion in the U.S.[69]
Pitch to advertisers
Pandora obtains its advertisers by explaining that the company reaches a narrowe
r audience compared to terrestrial radio. "Pandora's pitch to advertisers is tha
t its technology can cater to consumers with far greater precision than radio it can pinpoint listeners by age and sex, ZIP code or even musical taste."[67]
Methods of advertising
There are a few different methods of advertising on Pandora. Audio advertising c
omes in spots of 15 to 30 seconds, and run once every 20 minutes. However, users
only encounter ads if they are engaging with the site, like contributing a "thu
mbs up" or a "thumbs down" when changing a song or station.[70]
Next, there are banner ads which are featured on the wallpaper of the site. As n
oted by the New York Times, banner ads are on Pandora in order "to promote engag

ement, audio segments can be accompanied by clickable display ads offering coupo
ns or product information.[70]
Advertising on Pandora works through a method of collecting data from the users
online browsing activity. Once the data is collected, the company uses the data
to show the user target ads. This process of advertising is also known as behavi
oral advertising. Pandora offers its users the option of submitting out of the t
argeted ads, by a "opt-out" configuration on its website. Opting-out will only p
revent targeted ads, meaning users may continue to see generic (non-targeted ads
) from these companies after they opt-out. Eventually, Pandora offers either tar
geted advertisements or generic advertisements for its non-subscribed users.[71]
However, Pandora's advertising does not offer local content such as the local n
ews, weather, traffic, and talk.[67]
Market segments
Pandora has created two market segments, one for Spanish listeners, and another
for English listeners. By creating multiple market segments, Pandora's advertisi
ng is customized to its users' needs. In order to create the first two market se
gments, the company cross-referenced its registered user data with U.S. census.
Then, the cross reference allows the company to identify zip codes with high pop
ulations of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking people, and finally it ran tests overl
aying the two data sets to infer which listeners fit into those buckets.[72]
Internet radio competitors
Starting in the early 2010s, new entrants entered the personalized radio market,
such as Grooveshark (launched 2007), iHeartRadio (launched 2008), Mog.com, Tune
In (founded 2002), Rhapsody (launched 2001), and Europe's Spotify, all threateni
ng to use the concept of "true" on-demand access to online music as a challenge
to Pandora's personalized radio.
Europe's most popular online streaming music service, Spotify, launched in 2006
and arrived in the U.S. in mid-2011. Spotify has a catalogue of over 20 million
songs compared to Pandora s library of around 1 million.[73]As pointed out by edit
ors Miranda Ferrara and Michele LaMeau, "Spotify allows users to upload their ow
n songs to the online library. While Pandora allows listeners to connect to the
social media site Facebook to see what their friends are listening to, Spotify u
sers can quickly and easily share playlists with their friends through Facebook,
Twitter, email, and SMS text messages".
The second competitor that is targeting Pandora's personalized radio appeal is i
HeartRadio. Editors Miranda Ferrara and Michele LaMeau note "iHeartRadio is the
largest radio operator in the United States with 237 million listeners and 800 s
tations in 150 markets, iHeartRadio, like Pandora, offers listeners the opportun
ity to like or dislike a song in order to receive recommendations on other tunes
. It also offers custom tools that allow the listener to discover new artists or
more songs based on existing choices".[65]
Sirius XM has also become a competitor in recent years due to online-only accoun
ts and being able to customize stations; their wide availability in both the new
and used car market also gives it an advantage over Pandora. When acquiring XM
Satellite Radio in 2007, Sirius actually accurately predicted that it would be c
ompeting against streaming services like Pandora in its argument with the Federa
l Communications Commission (FCC) over whether the merging of the only two satel
lite radio companies in North America would cause antitrust issues.[74][75]
As recognized by the Ad Age staff, "Pandora has about 76 million monthly users,
and about a 70% share of the internet radio market in the U.S."[76] Ad Age predi
cted that competition would likely intensify due to Apple's acquisition of the B
eats Music service, but Apple announced that it would be closing the service on
November 30, 2015.[77]

Yet even with all of its competition, Pandora's Promoted Stations rely on its co
re Music Genome Project. Overall, the Music Genome Project of more than 450 attr
ibutes assigned to each song with a human-curated database of recorded music giv
es a big edge over competitors like Spotify and Beats Music.[78]
Owned and Operated Stations
South Dakota
KXMZ - 102.7 - Hot/AC
See also
List of Internet radio stations
List of online music databases
Notes
In the Guglielmo Forbes citation (December 2, 2013), only Tim Westergren is
noted as the founder of Pandora. "They've called its founder, Tim Westergren, a
robber baron."
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External links
Official website
Pandora featured in Fast Company
Inside Pandora: Web Radio That Listens to You (O'Reilly Digital Media articl
e)
The Flux podcast interview with Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora
Pandora feature on WNBC-TV
Closing Pandora's Box: The End of Internet Radio?, May 3, 2007 interview wit
h Tim Westergren
Pandora adds classical music
Interview with Tim Westergren about the Music Genome Project and Pandora
Dave Dederer & nuTsie Challenge Pandora
Inc. Magazine profile of Tim Westergren

New York Times article on Tim Westergren and Pandora

Pink Floyd: Pandora's Internet radio royalty ripoff USA TODAY, 2013
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