Pandora has hired Nick Bartle as its new chief marketing officer. He will start with the online audio company on Oct. 3, filling the vacancy left when Simon Fleming-Wood departed the position earlier this year. Continue Reading
A new survey from MusicWatch broke out the most popular streaming services by hours listened. Its Audiocensus found that Pandora and YouTube dominate weekly time spent listening, each with a 27% share of hours in the second quarter of 2016. Continue Reading
Shortly after the U.S. stock market closed on Thursday, Pandora announced that it had reached agreement with Warner Music for direct licensing of Warner recordings in Pandora’s upcoming on-demand music service. Pandora now appears locked and loaded to launch the on-demand service which has been in the works since last November. Continue Reading
This morning Pandora announced the initial roll-out of a mid-tier subscription service called Pandora Plus. Costing $4.99 a month, this plan eliminates commercials, raises the limit on skipping songs, includes song replays, and offers a version of offline radio listening. New features for free listening are also rolling out. It is a milestone day for Pandora, as it introduces one on-demand feature which moves the company into new legal and business territory. Continue Reading
Pandora made a splash this morning in an announcement of new label agreements that will underpin a new on-demand music service that the company has been promising since acquiring Rdio assets last November. CEO Tim Westergren held an investor call… Continue Reading
Pandora has rolled out the second stage of its collaboration with ride-sharing company Uber. Today, the rider-side integration has rolled out, so passengers can have their channels play through the car speakers. Continue Reading
Pandora CEO Tim Westergren gave investors first hints about what the forthcoming on-demand platform will look like. He gave a presentation at the Citigroup Global Technology conference in New York and shared some of the philosophy driving the creation of the new product. “We’re not approaching this from a me-too mentality,” he said. Continue Reading
Pandora has entered a partnership with Questlove, a renowned figure in hip-hop and a drummer for The Roots. He will curate and produce a new show called Questlove Supreme for the audio company. In addition to the new programming, Questlove is taking on the role of Strategic Advisor for Pandora and will act as the company’s first Artist Ambassador. Continue Reading
Pandora executives have publicly committed to an end-of-year timeline for launching the company’s upcoming on-demand music service, which will compete directly with Spotify. But a report in this morning’s Wall Street Journal says that the launch could be as soon as next month, citing unnamed sources. Continue Reading
On Monday, Pandora announced the debut of three charts through its Next Big Sound unit: Trendsetters, Predictions, and Top Spins. We decided to look at the first Top Spins chart against The Big Picture (Mediabase) and against this week’s CHR/Top 40 airplay. These are the stories that emerge. Continue Reading
Pandora is expanding on its purchase of Next Big Sound from last spring with the launch of three new charts, all of which are now live. The lists are Trendsetters, Predictions, and Top Spins. Continue Reading
iHeartRadio is sending an email survey which describes a prospective on-demand music service and asks recipients how likely they would be to subscribe. It could be the the first hint of an important dent in the competitive forces which rule the online music industry. Continue Reading