I’m sure many of you already know this in your hearts, minds, and ears; Pandora is the king of the Net Radio mountain. FMQB reports that Pandora, the near-ubiquitous online radio broadcaster, accounts for almost half of all royalties (for non-interactive audio streams) collected by performance rights organization SoundExchange. That’s a staggering percentage (44 to be precise) and illustrates both the popularity of Pandora and internet-based radio in a single breath. First it’s non-interactive audio streams, next… the world! As Tim Westergren, one of Pandora’s founders points out, the web radio giant now holds “a shade over 1 percent of the overall radio marketplace.”
Perhaps that doesn’t hit you like a ton of bricks (maybe it only hits you like 1% of a ton of bricks) but 1% of the entire radio market is no small feat for an internet-exclusive service, whose survival a couple of years back seemed more precarious than the endangered giant panda. And let’s not forget that it was only because of a financially untenable increase in webcasting rates (to be collected and distributed by SoundExchange) that Pandora’s future was ever in doubt. Thanks to a much discussed webcasting royalty rate compromise, both parties (as well as musicians everywhere) are richer, happier, and able to provide over 48 million people with a free infinite mix tape in the cloud.
But even though Pandora has cemented its legitimacy as a functional model for radio in the twenty tens, the company is still pursuing new strategies to address emerging trends in the use of the service. By forging partnerships with Google, Pioneer, Ford, and Alpine, Pandora is hoping to keep us all connected at home, on the phone, in our cars… really, wherever there are speakers (or headphones) at hand.
• Pandora Radio: http://www.pandora.com
