#ThursdayTool - Pandora

20somethingmedia
Jul 15, 2021
1 min read

Updated: Jul 16

Tool Profile:

Pandora

Name:

Pandora Media, LLC

Type of business:

Subsidiary

Type of site:

Music streaming service

Synopsis:

Pandora is a subscription-based music streaming service owned by Sirius XM Holdings based in Oakland, California, United States. The service carries a focus on recommendations based on the "Music Genome Project" — a means of classifying individual songs by musical traits.

The service originally launched in the consumer market as an internet radio service, which would generate personalized channels based on these traits and songs liked by the user; this service is available in an advertising-supported tier, and a subscription-based version. In 2017, the service launched Pandora Premium, an on-demand version of the service more in line with contemporary competitors

Services:

Internet radio

Pricing:

Pandora is a freemium service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as improved streaming quality, music downloads and offline channels are offered via paid subscriptions.

Advertising:

Banner ads, video ads, audio ads

Registration:

Optional (required to save stations)

Areas served:

United States

Key metrics:

In 2021, Pandora had about 55.9 million active monthly users, and 6.4 million subscribers. In February 2019, Sirius XM Holdings acquired Pandora for $3.5 billion in stock.

Date Launched:

January, 2000 (as Savage Beast Technologies)

Headquarters:

Oakland, California, U.S

Founder(s)

Will Glaser

Jon Kraft

Tim Westergren

Key people:

Roger J. Lynch (CEO)

Aimée Lapic (CMO)

David Gerbitz (COO)