iHeart Media & Entertainment

Posted on October 16, 2016 by trlevy

by TALIA LEVY and VALERIE POWELL

[16] iHeartMedia Company Logo

iHeartMedia, Inc

200 East Base Road

San Antonio, Texas

HISTORY

iHeart Media was originally founded in San Antonio, Texas under the name Clear Channel Communications. The company was founded by Lowry Mays and B.J. McCombs in 1972. In 2008, the company became private by a leveraged buyout through Bain Capital, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

iHeartMedia has the widest reach in America for any radio or television outlet with an audience of over a quarter of a billion listeners each month. The company currently covers 150 of the U.S. markets with 858 broadcast radio stations. iHeartMedia delivers a variety of content including music, talk shows, news, and sports through broadcast stations, satellite, online, via smartphones and via live shows. iHeartRadio currently has 92 million registered users with a year-over-year growth of 22% with an increase of 8% in total listening hours. As of September 30th, cumulative upgrades and downloads have reached a new record of 1.1 billion [4].

KEY EXECUTIVES

Bob Pittman [12] Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Wendy Goldberg [13] Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer

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William Eccleshare [15] Chairman and CEO, Clear Channel International

Richard J. Dressler [14] President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer

FINIANCIAL

For the second quarter of 2016, iHeartMedia’s loss widened to $278.89 million due to billboard sales in Turkey that expanded the ongoing debt $56.6 million. The loss was more than five times the amount of 2015’s second quarter loss of $54.66 million [3]. Even though there was a large loss in the second quarter, the company is still generating revenue in the third quarter of 2016 for a total of $857.1 million. Due to a growth in network business and the Presidential Election, digital advertising and broadcast radio primarily drove the growth in revenue of $10.2 million (1.2%) from the previous year’s third quarter revenue [4].

The increase in revenue allows iHeart to stay on top of their current debt of $20.78 billion as of June 30th, 2016. The large debt is mainly due to a buyout in 2008 by two Boston private-equity firms, allowing them to gain 70% of the iHeartMedia Company. Debtwire senior credit analyst, Seth Crystall, explains that iHeart is a “powerful brand” and will continue to increase revenue to make up from their current losses by the transformation of their listeners to their mobile app [3].

[17] Singer Taylor Swift singing at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

iHEART MUSIC FESTIVALS

The iHeart Music Festival Tour is iHeartRadio’s biggest live musical event, generating a large income for the company, with a portion of the ticket profits going towards the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. iHeartMedia’s President of National Programming Group, Tom Poleman, says, “Fans wait all year to hear who will be playing this tour and we’re thrilled to announce an impressive lineup” [11]. The concerts are held in major cities throughout the country by the iHeartRadio stations in those areas. The Jingle Ball Tour is iHeartRadio’s biggest musical event, generating a large income for the company. The tour is sponsored by Capital One, which allows card holders to gain early access to tickets before going to the general public [7].

[18] Bon Jovi Photographed performing at an iHeartRadio live concert.

The live iHeart Radio concerts are a mutually beneficially event for both the artists involved and iHeartMedia. For example, most recently the artist The Weekend celebrated the release of his new album Starboy in Toronto by headlining the iHeartRadio Canada Jingle Ball. Thirty minutes of his live set was broadcasted on the iHeartRadio App, along with 112 of iHeart Media’s radio stations including KISS in Los Angeles and Z100 in New York [1]. The iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in Toronto also included performances by major artists such as Niall Horan, The Chainsmokers, and Alessia Cara.

[23] iHeartRadio celebrated One Direction’s 2013 album Midnight Memories with a special release party.

iHEART GLOBALLY

Recently, iHeartRadio expanded into Canada with the collaboration of North America’s fastest growing digital audio service, Bell Media [2]. Canadians now have instant access to stations and to free streaming channels via iOS, Android apps, and at iHeartRadio.ca. iHeartRadio Canada uses content from Bell Media, which has over 105 licensed radio stations and 100 streaming channels [2]. With the expansion into Canada, iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball will now be present in Toronto.

[21] iHeartMedia’s Fiesta Latina is a part of the company’s Hispanic initiative.

This part quarter iHeart partnered with Hispanic radio legend Enrique Santos, to create a new Hispanic initiative to develop new programming content for iHeartMedia across their various platforms. This new initiative recognizes the increasing size of the the U.S. Hispanic community that are both English and Spanish speakers, as well as utilizes Santos’ popular reputation within the Latino community [8].

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[22] iHeart partnered with Telemundo to air the program.

Building off of this new initiative, just this past November iHeart celebrated the best in Latin Music at the iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina. They partnered with Telemundo to air the exclusive TV special and streamed the event live on Telemundo.com. Telemundo is an American-Spanish language television network owned by Comcast through NBCUniversal [10]. The event broadcasted live on iHeartMedia Spanish-Pop, Tropical, regional Mexican and Spanish Adult Hit radio stations all across the country [8].

THE FUTURE

This coming January, iHeartMedia will be launching a new On-Demand music streaming service, that will put them amongst competition of services like Spotify and Apple Music. The iHeartRadio All Access service will offer its subscribers unlimited on-demand listing to over 30 million songs. They will also offer a cheaper option, iHeartRadio Plus, which will gives its subscribers the ability to instantly replay songs they heard on iHeartRadio stations, through the app. According to iHeartRadio,the company has not yet decided how to price the two new services. However, $9.99 a month has become an industry standard for full on-demand subscriptions services. iHeartMedia earns most of its revenue through on-air advertisements, which they still will continue to air, despite the new revenue from the subscription service.

[19] iHeart will be unveiling 2 different On-Demand services. iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access.

iHeartMedia is not the only major radio based company making the switch, Pandora is creating its own on-demand based product estimated to cost $4.99 a month in the near future [6]. According to iHeart, iHeart All Access will “include a full on demand music collection experience – but one still tied directly to radio.” the company said. When listeners hear a song on the radio that they like, for the first time ever they will be able to replay that song or even save it directly to their playlist.

[20] iHeart Radio’s On-Demand service is expected to launch in January 2017.

Sources:

[1] Bliss, Karen. “The Weeknd’s Album Release Day Live Set Broadcast on IHeartRadio.”Billboard. Billboard Music, 26 Nov. 2016. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.

[2] Dupuis, Renee. “IHeartRadio Now Available in Canada: Free Streaming Service Brings Canadians Biggest and Best Music Experience.” Bell Media. Bell Media Canada, 6 Oct. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[3] Hendricks, David. “IHeartMedia’s Second-quarter Loss Widens to $278.9 Million.” San Antonio Express-News. San Antonio Express-News, 4 Aug. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[4] IHeartMedia, Inc. IHEARTMEDIA, INC. REPORTS RESULTS FOR THIRD QUARTER 2016. Rep. IHeartMedia, INC., 9 Nov. 2016. Web.

[5] Karp, Hannah. “IHeartMedia to Launch On-Demand Music Service.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 15 Oct. 2016.

[6] Lovelace, Berkeley, Jr. “Pandora CEO on On-demand Services: We’re in the Perfect Position.” CNBC. CNBC, 14 Sept. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[7] McAlone, Nathan. “The Biggest Radio Powerhouse in the US Just Took Aim at Apple and Spotify with a New Service.” Business Insider. Business Insider, 23 Sept. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[8] Ross, Kevin. “IHeartMedia, Inc. Reports Financial Results for the Third Quarter Ended September 30, 2016.” Radio Facts. N.p., 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[9] Stine, Randy. “IHeartMedia Shows Revenue Growth in Q3.” Radio World. Radio World, 10 Nov. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[10] Telemundo. “IHeartRadio Fiesta Latina 2016.” Telemundo. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[11] Vitucci, Danielle. “IHeartMedia Rings in the Holiday Season with the Return of Its Iconic 2016 National “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capital One”.” IHeartMedia Rings in the Holiday Season with the Return of Its Iconic 2016 National “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour Presented by Capital One” | Business Wire. BusinessWire, 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

[12] Bob Pittman. iHeartMedia, Inc. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[13] Wendy Goldberg. iHeartMedia, Inc. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[14] Richard J. Dressler. iHeartMedia, Inc. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[15] William Eccleshare. iHeartMedia, Inc. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[16] iHeartMedia. RadioFacts. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[17] iHeartMedia. Yahoo News. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[18] iHeartMedia. VectorNetworks. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[19] iHeartMedia. Hollywood.com. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[20] iHeartMedia. Business Wire. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[21] iHeartMedia. Aaarena.com. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[22] iHeartMedia. iHeart.com. Retrieved: November 28th 2016

[23] One Direction Last First Kiss IHeartRadio Album Release Party. Perf. One Direction. Youtube, 3 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.

Cumulus

Posted on October 16, 2016 by kavincen

By: Kaitlyn Vincent and Cairo Spencer

Cumulus Logo

History

Cumulus was co-founded in 1997 by brothers Lew and John Dickey in Atlanta, Georgia. The company broadcasts local programming as well as sports, syndicated media, entertainment brands and much more. The company has 447 owned-and-operated stations in 90 different US markets. The two platforms of Cumulus includes Cumulus Radio and Westwood One which contribute to massive reach of 245 million listeners per week. [1]

Similarly, Cumulus is known for the station NASH, which launched in 2013 and is the Nation’s leading provider of country music. In addition to the NASH radio sector, NASH has a country weekly magazine, television, live events and their own record label. Cumulus is now the second largest radio company behind iHeartMedia. [2] [13]

Key Executives

Mary G. Berner – President and Chief Executive Officer

John Abbot – Executive Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer

Richard S. Denning – Senior VP, Secretary & General Counselor

Affiliates

Cumulus Radio and Westwood One are both syndicated services of Cumulus Media. In 2013, Cumulus acquired Westwood One which focuses on selling syndicated advertisements. Together they have become the exclusive radio broadcast partner to some of the biggest brands in news, entertainment, sports and talk. This includes major sports such as NFL, the NCAA and the Olympics, major events such as the Academy of Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and even the Grammys. Cumulus has risen to become the nation’s leading provider of country music and lifestyle entertainment through its renowned NASH brand; named for the country music center that is the Nashville, Tennessee brand. NASH caters to country music fans nationwide through the use of radio programming, exclusive digital content, and live events. Cumulus Radio serves a demographically-diverse group across its 90 US markets. [1]

Cumulus and Westwood One Stations

Management

Cumulus hired Mary Berner, a former CEO of Reader’s Digest Executive, as the new Chief Executive Officer to try and turnaround the company in 2015. Before Mary stepped in, Cumulus’ stocks were dropping tremendously. One of Cumulus’ major shareholders, Crestview Partners, pushed out the founder Lew Dickey as the CEO and replaced him with Mary Berner. Before the turnover, the shares had dropped 80% of their value whereas after the turnover the shares dropped 39% after a couple of months. [8] [13]

In the coming months Mary is striving towards a “multi-year exercise” starting with fixing the operational basics. Secondly, she’ll be working on retaining the employees and improving satisfaction within the company due to a 50% turnover rate in 18 months in the company of 6,000 people. Her final area of concern is the rating decline for the company. [5]

“This company has lost more than a dollar of revenue for every dollar of expense reduction over the past four years,” she said. “So I’m focused on intelligently managing the cost structure.” – Mary Berner [7]

Although Cumulus’ headquarters is in Atlanta, Mary Berner is stationed within New York City, within the large market in which its syndicated service Westwood One caters to. According to Mary, there are four challenging feats she is facing with Cumulus which includes inescapable clean-up items from prior years, non-existent investment in systems, annual cost escalation due to the dynamic industry, and major capital investments. [5]

The New Cumulus CEO, Mary Berner

Financial

Cumulus had a low third quarter with a $286.1 million in the quarter. This was down from the $289.4 million in 2015. The low numbers are due to CEO Mary Berner’s adjustment period, the falling rating decline, and the lack of company structure. Recently however, Cumulus is heading into the fourth quarter with a positive stride with a 35.58% increase over the past 5 days. The price target for the company is currently at $5.00. Consequently, the Wall Street analysts recommend a hold recommendation for investors. [5] [8]

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Cumulus Media Equity Stub 2016

Cumulus is consumed in $2.5 billion in debt ever since the former CEO, Dickey Berner bought up several stations and lost Citadel back in 2010. However, a spokesperson disclosed that enough generated operational cash and asset sales will prevent Cumulus from becoming bankrupt and expects to gain $200 million at the end of 2017 from real estate sales. Furthermore, “We have no plans to file for bankruptcy and the next maturity for debt is not for three more years until May of 2019, so we have significant runway to begin to stabilize and ultimately grow the business,” the Cumulus spokesman said. [16]

In terms of trends, as of November 28, the 14-day ADX for Cumulus Media is at 39.28 which indicates a strong trend for investors. However, this number reflects the trend strength but not the direction of the trend. In another technical reading, Cumulus presently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index of 31.93 which reflects the company’s normal oscillation since the reading is between -100 to +100. This represents how the Cumulus commodities are in a normal range between the overbought and oversold territory. These technical readings further reflect the positive direction for Cumulus entering into the fourth quarter. [6] [7] [12]

Recent Antitrust Lawsuit

Last April, Cumulus was sued for an antitrust suit by Talk Radio Network Enterprises LLC and three other Radio networks for allegedly conspiring with Westwood One, Cumulus’ advertising package bundler. This suit was filed in Oregon due to a group of radio producers claiming that Westwood One and Cumulus were trying to monopolize a national radio that solely benefits the Cumulus station while undermining independent programmers. By conspiring to monopolize, Cumulus Media and Westwood are violating the Sherman Antitrust Act. In addition, these companies are already thwarted due to Cumulus Media controlling 90% of the national syndicated ad bundling market. [9]

In a complex system of advertising bundling, the companies buying advertisements expect a certain amount of trust from Westwood One. These companies have been experiencing a lack of transparency of payment from Westwood. Similarly, Westwood has been accused of paying the companies lower than the deserved amount. However, this month the Oregon judges decided to gut the claim by rejecting half of the allegations based on prejudice. According to an attorney for the group of Radio Networks, they have no intent of stopping the suit. [10]

The Issue

While, Mary is working to solve the company’s problems, the main issue with the company is the large amount of debt it holds. This monetary debt is due to the former purchase of Citadel, a Nevada-based broadcasting holding company and the general decline in Radio revenue due to the amount of music streaming services online. Michael Harrison, a former radio station owner and publisher of RadioInfo agrees:

“Cumulus is suffering from the tail end effects of the era of consolidation… The biggest problem in the industry, he said, is “smothering debt,” – Michael Harrison [7]

Overview

The biggest question for Cumulus is how to combat the growing online streaming music services and the consolidation of radio amidst their staggering debt and turnover struggles. Cumulus must continue to cut spending and manage to find a solution that will boost revenue through services that can compete as opposed to services that tail behind the forefront of the changing world of radio. In terms of debt handling, the company has until May of 2019 to pay it off which should hopefully be enough time for Berner to stabilize the company.

Works Cited

[1] Cumulus Website. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[2] Jackson, Hazel. “Market Rating: Are Analysts Bullish Cumulus Media Inc (NASDAQ:CMLS) After Last Week?” Money Making Articles Hot Stuff. Retrieved: November 21, 2016.

[3] NASH Website. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[4] Cumulus Key Executives. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[5] “Big Challenges Remain For Radio’s Number Two.” Radio Ink. Streamline Publishing, Inc. Retrieved: November 28, 2016.

[6] Ho, Rodney. “Cumulus Media Drowning in Debt, Stock Slides.” Radio and TV Talk. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[7] Grantham, Russell. “Cumulus Media Hit by Debt, Radio Industry Troubles.” Cumulus Media Hit by Debt, Radio Industry Troubles. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[8] Karp, Hannah. “Cumulus CEO Aims to Revive Radio Broadcaster.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[9] Sege, Adam. “Cumulus Hit With Antitrust Suit Over Advertising Payouts.” Law360. Portfolio Media, Inc. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[10] Koenig, Bryan. “Cumulus Media Gets Advertising Antitrust Suit Gutted.” Law360. Portfolio Media Inc. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

[11] Oliveira, Michael Wiggins De. “Cumulus Media: A Highly Speculative Equity Stub.” Seeking Alpha. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[12] Weakley, Vanessa. “Looking at the Gauges on Cumulus Media Inc. (CMLS).” Microcap. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[13] Atkinson, Claire. “Cumulus Media’s New CEO Can’t Stop Company Slide.” NYPost. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[14] “Struggling Cumulus Media Loses its CFO” American City Business Journal. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[15] “Organizational Leadership Changes at Cumulus Media” MusicRow. Retrieved: November 30, 2016.

[16] Grantham, Russell. “Radio Giant Cumulus Tumbles After Flying High”. Cox Media Group. Retrieved: November 29, 2016.

Pandora Radio

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Rachel Blackman

By Rachel Blackman

Company

Pandora Radio is an online and mobile personalized radio model that utilizes the Music Genome Project.

Pandora Logo [6]

The Music Genome Project is an algorithm set by music analysts that matches people to other music they may like based on their taste in artist or song [1]. Essentially, the listener may pick an artist/band, genre, or song and, based on the characteristics and technical elements of their choice, music that has similar traits will be played in accordance in a channel format. Comedy has also recently been added to the Pandora portfolio, so there is the option to explore that realm in the same streaming/radio hybrid system.

Pandora also has a blog section and benefits such as exclusive presale opportunities for concerts as well as premade stations for those who just want to listen to a less narrow selection.

There is a freemium version of the service with advertisements between songs, and a premium subscription service, Pandora One, that costs $4.99 a month for no ads.

Brief History

Pandora Radio is, in many ways, looked at as the originator of the personalized streaming service craze that is so prominent in the world today. Founded in 2000 by Tim Westergren and Jon Kraft, the company began humbly as just the idea of the Music Genome Project.

Come 2005 and beyond, Pandora was fully formed and blew up with popularity[2]. People were discovering music and finding the ease of having it on demand and tailored to their own tastes, a model that every competitor has been utilizing since.

Pandora x Ticketfly Merger [13]

As Spotify exploded and streaming services grew, the attention faded a bit from Pandora, but it is on its way back. At the end of last year, Pandora purchased the concert ticketing entity Ticketfly for $450 million in one of its biggest moves ever[3]. With this merger, Pandora is going to be able to sell tickets through its service, adding to its attraction and uniqueness.

Rdio Logo [14]

Next, Pandora purchased the streaming service Rdio’s assets for $75 million in efforts to make it into the digital streaming world as direct competition to players like Spotify and Apple Music[4].

The company is currently in a transition period where it is implementing these new acquisitions in order to get ahead of the game in streaming in 2016 and beyond.

New Features

Browse Graphic [5]

January 28, 2016, Pandora launched a new feature for their app: Browse. Browse recommends and assists people in discovering artists they may like based on their music taste. There is also an analysis level to the feature where listeners can view how many others are enjoying an artist they love, a useful resource for both the creators and the fans. Along with Browse, the app was redesigned to look cleaner and be easier to use[5].

Another exciting and innovative new idea Pandora implemented March 8^th is their AMPcast service. AMPcast allows artists to speak to their followers through audio messages they can record on their cell phones and upload to their music channel[6], a valuable form of connection for the artists to their fan base that has not yet been utilized anywhere else.

Live Music

Pandora Discovery Den [15]

Pandora has been making huge strides in the live music game this year as well. For example, this was their first year as the official streaming partner to the popular and forward-thinking music festival/conference, South By Southwest in Austin, TX. This year, their fittingly named stage Discovery Den hosted hot up-and-coming acts from March 16-19. From hip-hop artists like Kevin Gates and Anderson .Paak to electronic like Louis the Child[7], Pandora was thoughtful and current in its choices and tapped into young, hip audiences in the perfect setting to do so.

Concert poster for The ATL [8]

April 6^th, Pandora announced the lineup for its leap into the hip-hop world via their Pandora Presents: The ATL concert taking place May 5^th. Featuring wildly popular rap and hip-hop acts Young Thug, K Camp, and Dej Loaf, Pandora is targeting a key young and musically active audience that they have not been as present with until now[8]

Company structure

The company has been going through some executive changes in 2016, including naming cofounder Tim Westergren as CEO March 28^{th [9]}. Westergren is a musician himself and has always seen the importance in discovering new talent, something Pandora is putting a lot of attention into currently and a concept that will keep them relevant.

Along with this change, there was a restructuring of the upper offices including instating Mike Herring as President and CFO, promoting Sara Clemens from CSO to COO, and putting Chris Phillips in the Chief Product Officer seat [9].

Revenues

Pandora’s 2016 first quarter financial review has not yet been released, but will be made public April 28. Given the numbers from last year, it would appear as though the company is on an upward trend. Their fourth quarter revenue at the end of 2015 was up 25% year-over-year at $336.2 million, and their total revenues for all of 2015 were $1.164 billion, a growth of 26% year-over-year[10]. It is reasonable to expect that this years numbers will be even greater, especially given their acquisitions of Ticketfly and Rdio and their movement into live music.

As for right now, Pandora Media’s stock has gone up 0.04 since its last close with a volume of 9.06m[11].

Finally, Pandora just hit the $2 billion mark on April 18^thfor artist and songwriter royalties[12].

Overview/Looking to the Future

Pandora is making big moves towards being a powerful player through their innovative new streaming updates, their live music target on hip-hop in particular, and their company restructuring. It should be fascinating to watch how effective their strategies prove to be in execution.

Sources

[1] “About The Music Genome Project®.” (n.d.): n. pag. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[2] “Origin Story: The Founding of Pandora Radio.” Startup Grind. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[3] Sisario, Ben. “Pandora Buys Ticketfly, a Competitor to Ticketmaster.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2015. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[4] “Pandora’s Rdio Acquisition Sets Stage for Epic Streaming Music Battle.” Variety. N.p., 2015. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[5] “Pandora Debuts New Personalized Destination to Discover Music.” Press Release Distribution, EDGAR Filing, XBRL, Regulatory Filings. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[6] Lunden, Ingrid. “Pandora Raises Its Social Media Game with AMPcast, DIY Audio Messaging For artists.” TechCrunch. N.p., 2016. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[7] “Pandora Reveals Initial Lineup in Its First Year as the Official SXSW Streaming Partner – NASDAQ.com.” NASDAQ.com. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[8] “Young Thug, K Camp & DeJ Loaf To Perform At Pandora ATL Concert.” Vibe. N.p., 2016. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[9] “Pandora Brings Back Founder Tim Westergren As Newest CEO.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[10] “Pandora Reports Q4 and Full Year 2015 Financial Results.” Press Release Distribution, EDGAR Filing, XBRL, Regulatory Filings. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[11] “Pandora Media Inc.” P Stock Quote. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[12] “Pandora Hits $2 Billion in All-Time Royalties for Artists and Songwriters.” Press Release Distribution, EDGAR Filing, XBRL, Regulatory Filings. N.p., n.d. Retrieved 25 Apr. 2016.

[13] Dufree, Rachel. “Pandora and Ticketfly Join Forces to Create the World’s Most Powerful Music Platform.” Ticketfly. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[14] “Rdio Adds Free Streaming With Nearly 500 Live Broadcast Stations – Next Geekers.” Next Geekers. N.p., 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

[15] “Discovery Den at SXSW 2016: Four Days of Your New Favorite Music.” South by Southwest 2016 Music, Film and Interactive Festivals. N.p., 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Pandora Radio

Posted on December 2, 2015 by Kyle Miller

by Kyle Miller

Pandora App Logo (Courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [1]

2100 Franklin St
Suite 700
Oakland, CA 94612 Telephone #: (510) 451-4100

Overview of Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio is an internet music streaming company that emerged online in 2005. The company was founded by Tim Westergren, an award-winning music composer, and currently runs out of Oakland, CA. Pandora offers a wide library of music to listeners and can help users discover new tracks and artists that are similar to the music they currently enjoy. The streaming service is fueled by The Music Genome Project, which is an on going music analysis study that has created a formula using specific musical characteristics to help bring each user a unique playlist that caters to their music preference [2]. Pandora Radio is free to any person who enters their site, although there is an option for a paid subscription of $4.99 a month which deems a user a “Pandora One” member. These members are able to stream music ad free and also get much higher sound quality when streaming [3].

“The Next Song” Pandora Youtube Video. (Courtesy of Youtube) [4]

Interface

Screen Shot of Pandora Interface. [5]

Operating Pandora Radio is a simple, yet exciting experience. With over a million different songs, users are able to search their favorite artists and then get a playlist that will deliver similar music. When a track appears, users are able read lyrics as the song plays and browse the “About” section to learn more background information on who created the music. Users can create up to 100 different playlists and can also notify Pandora if they do not enjoy the music, so the site can start to find better songs to fit that user’s preferences. [2]

Key Executives

TimWestergren – Founder of Pandora Radio (Courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [6]

Brian McAndrews – Chief Executive Officer, President & Chairman (Courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [8]

Steve Bene – General Counsel (Courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [7]

Finances

Pandora’s third quarter results of 2015 reported a total revenue of $311.6 million. This total was a 30% increase from the results of last year’s Q3 mark. Advertising revenue also rose 31% to a total of $254.7 million [9]. Pandora executives relate this growth to the company’s recent $450 million dollar acquisition of Ticketfly, which makes Pandora a location to now discover and purchase tickets for upcoming live shows, attracting many new users who are avid concert goers [10]. Unfortunately, competition in the music streaming business has been a major concern for Pandora. On October 23, Pandora had the company’s worst share drop off, falling 35 percent in one day primarily due to the rise of Apple Music and Spotify. Apple Music recently reported it had 6.5 million paying subscribers, compared to only 3 million Pandora One subscribers who pay a monthly fee [11].

Pandora currently sits at a $14 stock price, which seems negative for potential investors, but analysts do see potential with the company in the future. The market currently predicts that Pandora’s premium is going to rise greatly over the next two January calls, signifying that their stock should move back up in the future. Analysts also expect a major investor to acquire Pandora by 2017 due to the company’s growing diversification and increase in overall revenue [12].

Pandora’s Share Prices of 2015 (Courtesy of Bloomberg.com) [13]

Interacting with Music Fans

tim-mcgraw-performance-lights-2015-billboard-650

Tim McGraw Performing (Courtesy of Billboard.com) [16]

Pandora Radio has made great efforts this year to create a close relationship with their audience. On September 9th, Pandora celebrated their 10 year anniversary by providing ad free streaming to anyone who visited their site. This thanked fans for the support they had given to Pandora and also allowed people to see what being a paid subscriber entailed [14]. Pandora also stayed committed to their goal of bringing artists and fans closer together. On November 11th, Pandora and country music star, Tim McGraw, joined together to create a listening party for McGraw’s new album, Damn Country Music. The event took place in New York City and included a live performance from the country singer that was free of charge for fans [15]. To celebrate the holiday season, Pandora is hosting a concert event in New York City on December 10th. The show, which will also be available to be streamed at home, will feature acclaimed artists Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco, and G-Eazy [17].

Competition

Digital streaming is the most popular way people are accessing music today. Although Pandora was created much earlier, streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal have impacted the market greatly by forming on-demand listening. In response, Pandora payed $75 million dollars to acquire assets from the music streaming service, Rdio, which recently fell into bankruptcy. This will eventually make Pandora an on-demand streaming site, which will possibly attract people to leave other sites and use Pandora [18]. Pandora also recently took a major step ahead of competitors by having Adele’s critically acclaimed album, 25, on their site. Since Pandora does not hold deals with major record labels and does not give their users access to chose the exact song they want, they are able to have the tracks available. Apple Music, Spotify, and others are restricted from having the number one album, because Adele’s record label chose to forgo streaming sales and focus primarily on selling physical copies [19].

The Future of Pandora

With the recent acquisition of Rdio, Pandora is preparing for a significant business change. Unlike their competitor Spotify who offers free streaming, Pandora plans to ally with artists and labels and only offer paid on demand subscription. This will put Pandora at a large disadvantage compared to Spotify, but the company believes that their main goal is to respect the art of music and the ones who spend handwork creating it [20]. Clear evidence that Pandora wants to honor artists is seen in their recent multi-year deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Pandora agreed to increase their royalty payments with the largest music publishing company, which will now open new opportunities for Pandora. They now have the ability to expand to a international market with the music rights they have acquired, which could be a major business move since Pandora is currently only available in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia [21].

Pandora also expanded their massive music library with many popular pre-1972 recordings of music. The company reached a $90 million settlement to avoid any copyright allegations, setting the precedent to other streaming companies to respect the artists. This addition of music attracts an older audience range to Pandora and will hopefully encourage record labels to be reasonable with establishing deals once Pandora begins their on demand service [22].

Pandora Logo on an Iphone (Courtesy of Fortune News) [23]

Sources

Pandora App Logo – press.pandora.com. Retrieved November 28 2015.

2. About Pandora – Pandora. Retrieved November 28 2015.

3. Pandora One – Pandora. Retrieved November 28 2015.

4. The Next Song – YouTube. Retrieved November 28 2015.

5. Pandora in Action – Pandora. Retrieved November 28 2015.

6. Headshot of Tim Westergren – press.pandora.com. Retrieved November 28 2015.

7. Headshot of Steve Bene – press.pandora.com Retrieved November 28 2015.

8. Headshot of Brian McAndrews – press.pandora.com Retrieved November 28 2015.

9. Pandora Q3 2015 Financial Results – investor.pandora.com Retrieved November 28 2015.

10. Roettgers, Janko (October 7, 2015) Pandora Buys Ticketfly to Sell Concert Tickets to Its Listeners – Variety – Retrieved November 28 2015.

11. Sisario, Ben (October 23, 2015) Pandora Shares Plummet as Competition Grows – NY Times – Retrieved November 28 2015.

12. Hagopian, Todd (October 28, 2015) After Pandora’s Steep Drop, An Acquisition Is Almost Inevitable – Seeking Alpha – Retrieved November 28 2015.

13. Pandora’s Share Price Chart – Bloomberg.com – Retrieved November 28 2015.

14. Olanoff, Drew (September 1, 2015) Pandora To Celebrate 10th Anniversary With Day of Ad-Free Listening – TechCrunch – Retrieved November 28 2015.

15. Stutz, Colin (October 27, 2015) Tim McGraw to Celebrate ‘Damn Country Music’ Release With Pandora Mixtape, Party – Billboard – Retrieved November 28 2015.

16. Tim McGraw Performing – Billboard – Retrieved November 28 2015.

17. (November 10, 2015) Pandora Holiday: Exclusive NYC Concert and Livestream Featuring Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco, G-Eazy and DJ Sets by Cash Cash – Business Wire – Retrieved November 28 2015.

18. Owsinski, Bobby (November 18, 2015) – The Pros and Cons of Pandora’s Rdio Acquisition – Forbes – Retrieved November 28 2015.

19. Kastrenakes, Jacob (November 25, 2015) – Pandora is Streaming Adele’s ’25’ and Her Label Can’t Stop It – The Verge – Retrieved November 28 2015.

20. Popper, Ben (December 1, 2015) – Pandora Cozies up to the Music Labels as it Prepares to Take on Spotify – The Verge – Retrieved December 1 2015.

21. Peoples, Glenn (November 13, 2015) – The Pandora-Sony/ATV Deal – Billboard – Retrieved November 29 2015.

22. Gardner, Eriq (October 22, 2015) – Pandora Reaches $90 Million Settlement With Labels Over Pre-1972 Music – Billboard – Retrieved November 29 2015.

23. Pandora Logo – Fortune.com – Retrieved November 29 2015.

Pandora Radio

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Rico Pedraza

by RICO PEDRAZA

Pandora Press Logo (courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [1]

Pandora App Logo (courtesy of Pandora Pressroom) [2]

Headquarters
2101 Webster Street
16th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 451-4100
http://www.pandora.com

Company Overview

Pandora is currently the largest online music streaming and internet radio company in the world with over 81.5 million users as of December 31st, 2014(3). The company is an online music streaming service that provides its users with automated music recommendations based upon a song, artist, album, or genre being searched. This automation is powered by Pandora’s service – the Music Genome Project – which gives human curated music recommendations for each individual. The company currently operates under two payment tiers. A free tier allowing unlimited internet radio music streaming with restrictions on the number of song skips allowed per day, audio quality, and is fueled by advertisements between songs. Alternatively the paid tier “Pandora One” ($4.99 per month or $54.89 per year) (4) offers ad-free listening, higher audio quality on desktop listening, and a higher number of daily song skips allowed.

Key Executives

: Brian McAndrews – Chief Executive Officer, President & Chairman (5)

: Tim Westergren – Founder (6)

: Sara Clemens – Chief Strategy Officer (7)

Brief Company History

Founded by Tim Westergren in 2000 the company has grown to an immaculate 81.5 million user base(3), trumping all other streaming services with Spotify being the closest with 60 million users(8). Based out of Oakland, California, Pandora has had a quick rise in its 15 years earning $920.8 million in total revenue in 2014(9). Over the years Pandora has changed multiple business models, due to new unexpected variable costs in today’s online music streaming industry. These obstacles included the changing climate around artist payouts per stream in the music industry, increased licensing costs through SoundExchange(10) etc. etc. Pandora has been able to take these hurdles in stride, shifting its focus into brand and fan interaction as well as entering the live entertainment space over the past few years.

Interface

The screenshot below shows the typical Pandora user interface with basic music controlling functions present.

User Profile Screenshot (14)

Devices / Platforms

Today Pandora is available across virtually all platforms; including car radio systems, almost all mobile devices, online computer streaming, and available on some smart televisions. Additionally Apple recently announced that Pandora will officially be one of the first apps available on the fist operating system of their new product, the Apple Watch (11). The Apple Watch is Apple’s newest device that incorporates a “smart watch” device with the interface of an iPhone. It is set to be released on April 24th, 2015.

Apple Watch Promotional Photo (Courtesy of Billboard)

Apple Watch Promotional Photo [15]
(Courtesy of Billboard)

Financials

On December 31st, 2014 Pandora released their end of the year Financial reports. The report showed a trend that Pandora’s year-over-year mobile and local advertising revenue both grew from 2013. Local advertising revenue was $152.9 million (155% increase from 2013), and mobile revenue alone accounted for $712 million (a large portion of Pandora’s total $920.8 million 2013 total revenue) which also was a 58% increase from 2013(9).

Pandora accredits this success to the fact that 2014 was the highest year of mobile monetization in company history. Pandora’s 2015 Q1 financial report will be reported publicly on April 24th, 2015.

Competition

Today Pandora’s primary competitors include Spotify, iHeart Media, iTunes Radio, and Sirius XM to name a few. Although each of these services differ slightly, Pandora is still the leader in total users of all of these streaming services(3).

Additionally, two new companies have been in the music streaming service news recently. The first being Jay-Z’s newly launched music streaming service Tidal, and the second being Apple’s currently unnamed and soon to launch streaming service. Tidal launched March 30th, 2015(12) following a $56 million acquisition by artist Jay-Z of the parent-company Aspiro(13). Tidal is unique because unlike Pandora and Spotify, Tidal has two paid monthly subscription tiers with no option of free listening for the user. With only 500,000 users at launch it is unclear if Tidal will be a future competitor.

At the Tidal launch on March 30th, 2015 artists Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Calvin Harris, Christ Martin of Coldplay, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J.Cole, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Usher signing the company's constitution.

Various A list artists at the Tidal launch event on March 30th, 2015 in New York City. (Courtesy of New York Post) [16]

In August of 2015, Apple acquired Beats Music for $404 million dollars(17). Currently there has been much speculation as to what Apple is planning to do with their service and when it will launch, however there are a few factors to keep in mind:

First the acquisition of Beats Music has brought Apple music taste makers like Jimmi Iovine (former CEO of Interscope Records), Andre “Dr. Dre” Young (founder of Beats Music), and Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1. Potential for more human music curation.
Secondly, Apple as of 2013 had a user base of 500 million paid users(18), which since has no doubt increased, allowing them to potentially launch a music streaming service with an unprecedented initial user base.

Future

Pandora is in the fortunate position where it is a pioneer of music streaming, in a market becoming oversaturated with competitors. Pandora sets itself aside by possessing the most users of any of these services, 81.5 million users, and by having a unique streaming service / business model. With all this said, Pandora recently has begun entering the live entertainment, fan interaction, and brand sponsorships parts of the music industry.

For the 4th year in a row, Pandora has sponsored an event held an event at Austin, TX during the South by Southwest Music Festival.

2014 Pandora Discovery Den admat (courtesy of mxdwn.com) [19]

Called “The Pandora Discovery Den”, Pandora selected over 35 current notable musicians from the genres of electronic, hip-hop / R&B, and rock. Held over 4 days, Pandora was able to showcase many up and coming artists that are featured and heavily streamed on Pandora. Each day is a new genre, and all performances were broadcasted live on Pandora’s web & mobile outlets. This event allowed fan interaction for those attending South by Southwest as well as fan interaction for those who couldn’t attend the fest but lived vicariously through the live broadcast.

Additionally, Pandora continued this fan interaction on January 30th, 2015 Pandora continued its fan interaction by presenting a live stream of Jack White’s sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden. In anticipation of the live stream Pandora, in conjunction with Jack White’s record label Third Man Records, curated a Jack White digital mixtape that was exclusively available to Pandora users. The live stream was made available for 72 hours after The Madison Square Garden show, again allowing Pandora fans to vicariously experience the concert(20). The below clip(21) shows Jordan Klepper interviewing Jack White speaking about his upcoming MSG show; an example of additional content created by Pandora that was used exclusively during this campaign.

Finally Pandora in early April, in a joint venture with AEG Live’s Concerts West, announced an official tour pre-sale for the Rolling Stone’s upcoming ZIP CODE tour exclusively through Pandora. Pandora users were given access to pre-sale tickets 4 days before the general sale began on April 13th, 2015(22). And Pandora again created a digital mixtape of songs hand selected by members of the Rolling Stones themselves. This campaign was beneficial to both parties, and offered Pandora increased outreach with their fans, establish a relationship with major concert promoter AEG Live, as well as continued their pursuit of the live entertainment market.

All three of these events show the future direction Pandora as a company is currently moving towards. Pandora will continue the success of their already well established streaming service, while developing the company to include new outlets within their business model.

Sources

(1) – Pandora Logo – press.pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(2) – Pandora App Logo – press.pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(3) – Pandora User Number – statista.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(4)- Pandora One pricing – pandora.com/one – RT: 4/17/2015

(5) – Brian McAndrews Headshot – rightstartups.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(6) – Tim Westergren Headshot – chicagoideas.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(7) – Sara Clemens Headshot – thedeal.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(8) – Spotify User Number – press.spotify.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(9) – Pandora End of the Year Financial Report 2014 – press.pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(10) – SoundExchange Fees – gigaom.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(11) – Billboard Apple Watch – billboard.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(12) – Tidal Launch – billboard.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(13) – Aspiro Yahoo Finance – yahoo.com/finance – RT: 4/17/2015

(14) – Pandora Screenshot – pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(15) – Billboard Apple Watch Photo – billboard.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(16) – Tidal Signing Photo – nypost.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(17) – Apple Acquisition of Beats – forbes.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(18) – Apple 500 Million Users – appleinsider.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(19) – Pandora SXSW Poster – music.mxdwn.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(20) – Jack White Pandora Press MSG – press.pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(21) – Jack White Pandora MSG 72 Hour Stream – youtube.com – RT: 4/17/2015

(21) – Pandora / AEG Exclusive Presale – press.pandora.com – RT: 4/17/2015

Spotify

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Erin Singleton

by ERIN SINGLETON

Spotify Logo

HEADQUARTERS

Spotify AB
Birger Jarlsgatan 61, 10tr
113 56 Stockholm
Sweden
556786-5729
(Research & Development)

Spotify Ltd.
4th Floor
25 Argyll Street
London W1F 7TU
United Kingdom
(Main headquarters)

http://www.spotify.com/

KEY EXECUTIVES [1]

: Daniel Ek: CEO & Co-Founder

: Martin Lorentzon: Director of the Board & Co-Founder

: Ken Parks: Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA

: Jeff Levick: Chief Business Officer

: Gustav Söderström: Chief Product Officer

: Angela Watts: VP, Global Communications

: Steve Savoca-Head of Content

: Oskar Stål: Chief Technology Officer

: Peter Sterky: Chief Financial Officer

ABOUT

Spotify Interfaces

Spotify is a digital music streaming service that allows users to create personal playlists and radio stations, browse Spotify-curated playlists, and share music with friends. Users can do this through their mobile devices, tablets, or desktop computers. The service currently has more than 30 million songs registered within its system through licenses with major labels and recording artists [2]. Developed in 2006 by entrepreneurs Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon in Stockholm, Sweden, Spotify was created as a response to the illegal downloading of music going on by consumers through piracy sites like Napster [3]. In 2008 the service was launched in Scandinavia, France, the U.K. and Spain; in 2011, it made its way to the U.S [3]. There are currently over 60 million users (15 million of which are paying users,) 1.5 billion playlists, and 20,000 songs added per day [2].

MARKET EXPANSION

Spotify markets worldwide

Spotify is currently available in 58 markets worldwide, including Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Taiwan, Italy, and more [2]. In 2013, Spotify expanded to 8 new locations in its steps towards penetrating Latin America and Asia markets, launching in Mexico, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore [4]. Spotify introduced Canada’s launch in 2014 [5]. Plans to enter Japan are still in the works, and previous plans to enter Russia have been halted due to its unstable economic conditions [6]. As Spotify has continued to expand its availability across the globe, its number of users has greatly increased every year.

FINANCIALS

A comparison of market shares in the Internet radio space

Despite industry rumors, Spotify still remains a privately funded company and is not going public anytime soon[7][8]. Spotify is currently close to completing a new round of funding from Goldman Sachs and an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds, raising $400 million and putting its value at $8.4 billion [9]. After the deal, Spotify will be worth double the value of its closest competitor, Pandora Music ($3.85 billion), despite having higher net losses than Pandora and less market share (6% versus 31%, respectively) [10]. The deal will also put Spotify at the top ranks of the highest valued privately funded technology companies, along with Square, Dropbox, and Airbnb [11].

BUSINESS MODEL

Royalty Pay Out

There are two tiers for Spotify users: ‘freemium,’ a free, ad-supported streaming format, and ‘premium,’ an ad-free streaming subscription for $9.99/month. The premium subscription comes with other perks, including unlimited song skips, offline mode ability, and on-demand mobile access [12]. Additionally, there is a student tier for $4.99/month and a family plan for $5.99/month. Spotify philosophizes that the freemium option will drive users to eventually pay for the better experience [2]. Through these payment options, Spotify has paid $2 billion USD to the music industry, $1 billion of which coming from 2014 alone [2]. 70% of revenues earned are paid out to rights holders in the industry, while Spotify holds onto the remaining 30% [2]. Spotify does not pay ‘per stream,’ but rather through royalty statements that are dependent on the country the artist is being streamed, the number of paid users, the country’s currency value, and the artist’s royalty rate. As a result, ‘per stream’ payouts are typically between $0.006 and $0.0084 [2].

ARTIST BACKLASH

do-no-reuse-taylor-swift-the-beat-bb36-sarah-barlow-billboard-650

Taylor Swift pulled her catalogue off Spotify this fall 2014. Image courtesy of Billboard

With the trending drop of physical sales and digital downloads, there has been heavy debate circulating the music industry involving streaming companies’ payouts. More specifically, there has been criticism from recording artists and songwriters who feel that their ‘art’ is being undervalued and deserves fairer compensation from streaming services. Just this past fall, Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalog off of Spotify in defense of songwriters, saying that she is “not willing to contribute [her] life’s work to an experiment that [she doesn’t] feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music” [13]. Other artists who have called out against the streaming service include Jason Aldean, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Talking Heads’ David Byrne, and others [14]. In response, Ek argues that record labels are to blame since they are the owners of the music and thus the ones distributing it to their artists under their own respective terms [14].

Tidal Logo

The biggest artist-led backlash against Spotify is the creation of competitive streaming service Tidal, an artist-owned global music and entertainment platform ran by Jay Z, Beyoncé, Deadmau5, Madonna, and other music superstars [15]. To counter artist tensions, Spotify recently rolled out a new feature called Tweet the Beat, which allows users to express their gratitude towards their favorite artists through an interface pop-up asking them to thank the artist via a pre-written tweet [16]. Rihanna is the only artist users have been asked to thank. This experimental feature has been negatively received by Spotify users, who view it as a spam [15]. A Spotify spokesperson says that, “[They’re] always testing new things on our different platforms and to various user groups,” most likely to stick out amongst the competition [15]. However, Tweet the Beat has been rolled back as a result of such critical opinions.

RECENT NEWS

These past few years have been busy ones for Spotify as the company proactively works towards staying ahead of the concentrated streaming market. In January of 2015, Spotify introduced Touch Preview, a “better way to preview any song, album, artist, or playlist” [17]. This feature allows users to gain a “sneak peak” to a song or playlist by holding down a finger to the screen to preview the song instantaneously. If the user likes what they hear, they can save the song with one simple swipe.

In February of 2015, Spotify introduced an update for desktop users, presenting fully integrated lyrics, powered by Musixmatch, as well as an explore option to search popular lyrics from Spotify’s top songs [18]. The desktop update also included easier access to Friend Feed, which allows users to discover what their friends are currently listening to, as well as a revamping of daily viral charts.

JAPAN-ENTERTAINMENT-US-IT-INTERNET-GAMES-SONY

Spotify and Sony form partnership

In March of 2015, Spotify’s PlayStation Music was launched in partnership with Sony Network Entertainment International LLC, making it “easier than ever for gamers to enjoy their favorite tracks whilst playing their favorite games” [19]. Users are able to create their own on-demand soundtracks to their games without interruption to the gaming experience. Just this April 2015, Spotify launched Spotify for Brands, a platform that reveals audience statistics and insights to benefit brands in their endeavor to connect with the younger generations [20].

OVERVIEW

Since its 2006 development and 2008 initial launch, Spotify has demonstrated significant exponential growth over the past 7 years with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Leading the pack in the digital streaming market, the service is tirelessly working towards providing unique innovations and opportunities for its consumers that one can only expect to continue in the many years to come.

SOURCES

[1] Spotify Biographies, Spotify Press.

[2] Spotify Artists, Spotify Explained.

[3] Forbes, Spotify’s Daniel Ek: The Most Important Man In Music

[4] Chicago Tribune, Spotify Expanding into Asia, Latin America

[5] Spotify Press, Spotify is Live in Canada!

[6] Business Insider, Spotify has cancelled its launch in Russia

[7] Yahoo! Finance, Spotify seeks to hire U.S. filings expert as bankers eye IPO

[8] Yahoo! Finance, Spotify isn’t going public anytime soon

[9] Yahoo! Finance, Spotify Nears New Funding at Valuation of $8.4 Billion

[10] Market Realist, Why Is Spotify’s Valuation More than Double Pandora’s?

[11] Wall Street Journal, The Billion Dollar Startup Club

[12] Pocket-Lint, Spotify free vs Spotify premium: What’s the difference?

[13] Rolling Stone, Taylor Swift’s Label Head Explains Spotify Removal

[14] Rolling Stone, Spotify Founder Fires Back at Taylor Swift

[15] The Telegraph, Stars lead backlist against Spotify with their own music streaming site Tidal

[16] Digital Trends, Spotify Rolls Back ‘Tweet the Beat’ for Rihanna After Back Lash

[17] Spotify Press, Introducing Touch Preview: a better way to preview any song, album, artist, or playlist

[18] Spotify Press, Introducing our latest update for Spotify on desktop

[19] Spotify Press, Soundtrack your game with Spotify on PlayStation Music

[20] Spotify Press, Spotify launches playlist targeting for brands

Pandora

Posted on December 1, 2014 by ajlopez

 by: Andrea Lopez

Pandora Image – [1]

Pandora App Icon [2]

ADDRESS/CONTACT

2101 Webster Street, 16th Floor Oakland, CA 94612

Tel: (510) 451-4100 http://www.pandora.com /

COMPANY PROFILE

Pandora is a free progressive music service provider that strives to provide a top of the line variety of music experience to its listeners. Through Pandora, people can experience a personalized interactive experience with the music of their choice on their devices at anytime and any place. [3]

courtesy of : Human Genome Project – [4 ]

•

By way of a devised system, better known as “The Human Genome Project,” Pandora has enabled listeners to plant a seed -selecting an artist, song, or genre of their choice that will then generate music of the same genre for the listener. [3] This is all composed through a music taxonomy system created through Pandora, ultimately creating a positive listener experience. [5]

OPERATING PANDORA

Free to sign up for users, Pandora enables listeners to create up to 100 stations depending on their musical preference. By searching an artist, genre, or song, users can create station that will play only music similar to the item searched. The image below exhibits a user’s profile with their selected stations on the left hand side.

Image of Users Profile [6]

BRIEF HISTORY

Founded in 2000 by Tim Westergren, Pandora is rooted in Oakland, CA where the company opened their first offices [7]. In less than a decade, Pandora had impressively raked up approximately 30 million registered users and earned $40 million in revenues [8].

•

Back in 2009, Pandora opened a new world for their users when they introduced the ad-free radio service for 36 dollars/year, Pandora One. However, between 2009 -2013, Pandora experienced an increase in rising licensing costs to SoundExchange, currently still growing. With these new setbacks, Pandora has now increased their monthly subscription from $3.99 to $4.99. Current subscribers are safe for now with their $3.99 monthly payment, but by 2015, the going rate with be the same across the boards with subscribers [8].

Since the beginning, Pandora has strived to allow an easy streamline service to its users through its free subscription, and now ad-free subscription, which in 2013 was reported to have reached 72 million monthly listeners. [9]

KEY EXECUTIVES

BrianMcAndrews – Pandora CEO Courtesy of www.rightstartups.com [10]

Mike Herring – Pandora CFO Courtesy of www.cnet2.com [11]

Tim Westergren- Pandora Founder Courtesy of: www.kinja-img.com [12]

FINANCIALS

As reported in the SQ Press Release of Financial Results, Pandora reached 218.9 Million dollars in total revenue and is projected to reach 895 Million – 915 Million for the 2014 total yearly revenue [13]. The SQ revenue increased by 38% since the prior year’s SQ revenue results. The suggested increase in revenue is said to have resulted from investments in mobile and local advertising, demonstrated in the 39% advertising revenue increase and the 35% yearly revenue increase in subscriptions [14].

: Pandora Financial Revenue Growth from ’12-Q1’14 Courtesy of www.tctechcrunch2011.com [15]

Pandora’s yearly revenue over a two year span between 2012 and 2014 indicates approximately a 50 million dollar increase. Initially, when Pandora was first launched, they experienced far less competition. As more and more music streaming companies are introduced into the market, Pandora, although still providing service to a plethora of devoted users, has experienced somewhat of a sluggish increase of revenue despite what was predicted for the company.

COMPETITORS

Graph of Edison Survey Results Courtesy of www.marketrealist.com [17]

Over the years, Pandora has grown exponentially as a company and dominated in its listener audience numbers compared to its competitors. Among Pandora’s competitors, including iHeart Radio, Spotify,Google Play All Access, Rhapsody,and Slacker, Pandora still exhibited exceeding results in the Edison Research study taken in March 2014 [16]. iHeart Radio, Pandora’s most prominent competitor reported to have 9% of the listener population, while Pandora ranked in at 31% of the listener population. Over 2,000 people were interviewed for the Edison Study with a demographic of individuals raging in ages from 12 +. [18]

Click here to read about Forbes content contributor Amadou Diallo‘s personal opinions when comparing three different music streaming services: iTunes Radio, Pandora And Spotify.

PANDORA PLATFORMS

Pandora is now available in car radio systems, cellular devices, iPads, laptops to even Blu-ray players. This multi faceted, multi-platform side of Pandora allows for so many options for users to stream their music. [19] It was reported in 2009 that Pandora’s 43 million users accessed their accounts on 100 different consumer devices other than a computer [20]. This is simply a number that demonstrates just how widely attainable streaming music is across different platforms.

Pandora’s Many Platforms Photo courtesy of www.gigaom.com [21]

PANDORA’S POPULARITY

For such a wide scope of listeners in terms of age, Pandora has provided a great service, largely due to the interactive qualities of the site. Not only does Pandora possess the users profile information about them, the company also takes note of the user’s music preference and times they are actively listening. Through the “thumbs up, thumbs down” buttons on the users profile, further explained at 13:50 of this video, Pandora receives information on media you both like and disliked. [22]

NOW, & WHAT’S AHEAD

Pandora’s great success has not only sustained its current prosperity, but promises for it’s bright future as well. In the interview conducted at Hivios first ever Radio Ideas Festival in 2013 between Mark Ramsey and Pandora CTO Tom Conrad, the future plans of the company are somewhat touched upon. Not only is Pandora certainly withstanding any threats from competitors today,but the executive board is constantly looking for new ways of improvement. Conrad alludes to Pandora’s hopes and explorations into livening up the interactive aspects of the site. He goes on to explain the possibility of venturing outside the lines of music and comedy and delving into sports entertainment and possibly weather.

Further explained is Pandora’s intentions of understanding their audiences to a higher level. Already Pandora has taken exceptional steps towards fully emerging their users into an interactive world where their music preferences are key, but Tom Conrad foreshadows taking the leaps as Facebook has when it comes to audience fragmentation. This meaning that listeners are divided based on interest. From this, Pandora understands their audience better catering to their needs and wants.

What's Ahead for Pandora? CTO Tom Conrad talks to Mark Ramsey [23] 

 Look Below for question conducted in the interview:

A recent article titled “Will Pandora Survive 2015,” explains the possible decline of streaming music sites due to the increase in royalty rates. [24] With this possibility, it could be possible for Pandora to steer clear merging with big names in the industry like Apple, and instead conducting business with a small scale radio broadcaster, ultimately conserving revenue. [24]. Although, it is safe to say that with constant new artists, no matter big or small, someone, somewhere desires to be noticed. Music is constantly created, therefore driving the industry.

Sources:

[1] Pandora Company Image, Loadthegame.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[2] Pandora App Icon, Pandoraradioformac.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[3] Pandora Company Profile, Press.Pandora.com, RT: 11/16/2014

[4] Pandora Music Genome Project Photo, Indirest.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[5] About Pandora, Pandora.com, RT: 11/20/2014

[6] Pandora Image Profile, Dailytech.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[7] Pandora Biography, Investor.Pandora.com, RT: 11/17/2014\

[8] The Verge:Pandora Raises Fees, Theverge.com, RT: 11/17/2014

[9] Pandora Radio Dominence, Theverge.com, RT 11/17/2014

[10] Brian McAndrews, Rightstartups.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[11] Mike Herring, Cnet2.com. RT: 11/25/2014

[12] Tim Westegren, Kinja.com, RT: 11/15/2014

[13] Pandora Investing, Investor.Pandora.com, RT: 11/27/2014

[14] Pandora Investing PDF, Investor.pandora.com, RT:11/27/2014

[15] PandoraRevenueImage, tctechcrunch.com, RT: 11/25/2014

[16] Pandora ups subscription price as competition build, washingtonpost.com, RT: 11/30/2104

[17] Graph of Edison Survey Results, marketrealist.com, RT: 11/30/2014

[18] Online Radio Habits, Edisonresearch.com, RT: 11/25/2014

[19] Pandora Radio’s Dominance Built On Big Data Edge, forbes.com, RT: 11/26/2014

[20] Pandora: Now Playing Everywhere, gigaom.com, RT: 11/27/2014

[21] Pandora’s Many Platforms Image, gigaom.com, RT: 11/27/2014

22] Pandora’s Guide to Mobile App Platforms, gigaom.com, RT: 11/27/2014

[23] Interview Video, vimeo.com. RT: 11/30/2014

[24] Will Pandora survive 2015?, qz.com, RT: 11/30/2014

http://advertising.pandora.com

Spotify

Posted on October 14, 2014 by hlu04

by Helen Lu

[1] Spotify’s Logo

KEY EXECUTIVES

[2] Spotify Founders- Martin Lorentzon & Daniel Ek

[3] Jeff Levick- Chief Business Officer

[4] Steve Savoca- Head of Content

[5] Ken Parks- Chief Content Officer & Managing Director USA

SPOTIFY OVERVIEW

[6] Spotify’s sleek interface layout for their multi-platform service.

Spotify is a privately-owned, digital music streaming service that provides on-demand access to tracks. It is available on multiple platforms, including computers, mobile, tablets, and home entertainment systems. Originally founded in Sweden in 2006, Spotify launched in the United States in 2011; it is now available in 58 markets. [7]

Spotify offers listeners the free model, “made possible by ads,” and the premium model for $9.99 monthly, which is ad-free, high-quality, and available offline. [8] With over 20 million songs, over 20,000 tracks added daily, and over 1.5 billion playlists, Spotify has accumulated 10 million active users and a total of 40 million active users. [9]

COMPETITORS

Rdio, Pandora, Rhapsody, Google Play Music, Beats, iTunes Radio, Music Unlimited, and Xbox Music are worthy contenders in this competitive space. Product reviews assess service quality with major factors include song catalog, user interface, support, and features. [10] Each racing for a market share, these top players in the market are making strategic ploys to stay afloat.

On November 12th, Youtube announced their own streaming service, Youtube Music Key for $9.99. It will be interesting to see how it will affect the music industry when it fully hits the market in 2015. [11]

[12] Spotify and The Echo Nest collaboration

In early March 2014, Spotify acquired The Echo Nest, a big data company to enhance the music discovery feature, forcing Rdio, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, and Vevo to look elsewhere for a discovery algorithm. [13]

THE SPOTIFY STRATEGY

Spotify has successfully targeted college students, establishing a solid audience base and brand loyalty. With personal information confirming their status, Spotify offers students Spotify Premium for only $4.99. [13]

[13] Spotify engages their target audience: college students and 18-24 year-olds.

COLLEGE CASE STUDY

Spotify’s tenacious grasp on college students’ listening is reflected in their recently released research report of the Top 40 Musical Schools in America. The findings are a close study of the musical norms in the schools.

[14] Detailed graphs document music-genre distribution and listening spikes, showing not only what students listen to but also how they listen.

The data that Spotify is able to collect can be utilized for targeted advertising and marketing campaigns today. Moreover, with such a large following of the developing youth, Spotify is not only able to make significant advancements with the invaluable information about today, but accurate inferences about these soon-to-be adults tomorrow. [13]

#THATSONGWHEN

Spotify launched their #thatsongwhen campaign with advertising agencies Ogilvy & Mather and David to further engage their millennial base. #Thatsongwhen allows users to tie their emotional experiences to their favorite songs, to create, and to tell stories. The customization, personalization, and interactivity of a musical experience attracts and retains a young crowd. [15]

The stories are media clips that are charged with emotion, and of course, music. Don’t Go Chasing Girls is about a man’s early memory of his childhood crush that is easily triggered with TLC’s hit song, Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls. Stories and songs are updated and posted on a live feed.

AD TAKEOVER

Spotify is introducing two new advertising options for eager advertisers:

1. The dubbed Video Takeover, only available on desktops, allows brands to takeover the screen during 15-30 second advertising breaks.

2.The dubbed Sponsor Sessions forces mobile users to view a 15-30 second video on their mobile devices in order to proceed onto 30 minutes of uninterrupted streaming. [16]

McDonald’s, Universal Pictures, and Ford are just some of the major sponsors that have opted into this advertising innovation. [17]

[18] McDonald’s format and utilization of Spotify’s advertising product – Video Takeover.

SPOTIFY PARTNERSHIPS

VODAFONE

Everything is going mobile, and music is no exception. This rapid trend of playing and streaming music from a smartphone is particularly prevalent in Australia. Due to these recent findings, Vodafone Australia has partnered with Spotify to bundle in Spotify Premium for free with their monthly plan. A Spotify Premium subscription generally costs $11.99 Australian dollars each month. The exclusive offers with Spotify vary, and are known as the Red Plans. [19]

[20] Research shows that 1.5 million Australians stream music from their mobile devices.

Vodafone believes that Spotify Premium’s features complement and maximize the use of their faster network speeds, value plans, and expanding 4G network. Both the companies and the listeners are benefitting from this collaboration as the marriage of these digital services follow consumer trends and meets consumer needs. [21]

CARPLAY

Apple Carplay is an a new feature configured in select 2014 vehicles. Spotify is on board for this innovative ride as it has updated and fixed some bugs for this new multimedia system. [22] The music player allows users to access their Spotify accounts using a compatible iPhone. [23] With a built-in display to play music, Carplay is an exclusive and luxurious market; the Ferrari FF is one of the few select cars with Carplay. Several automobile manufacturers, however, are making an effort to include and support this system in the future. [24]

[24] Spotify collaborates with Apple Carplay to incorporate music services in the latest car models.

UBER

Uber is a hip taxi service, and Spotify is a hip streaming service. These two successful startups partner up for a new listening experience. Passengers can link their custom playlists to Uber vehicles for a fun ride. Although this new feature has started off in ten cities, it makes a big splash in the car service industry and the music industry. This partnership allows both companies to co-promote their respective brands and to change with the times. The service is for Spotify Premium account holders. [25]

[26] Spotify and Uber modernize the standard cab-ride as they join forces to create a new listening experience.

SPOTIFY CONTROVERSY

Taylor Swift pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify’s music database as she believes that it does not fairly compensate artists. [27] As a popular musician, her bold move and her public statements rejecting the streaming business model has made headlines for weeks. Fans and critics are responding to her decision with distaste as both parties point out that there are other viable services, such as Youtube and SoundCloud, to play her music. [28] While she recently accepted the first-ever Dick Clark Award for Excellence at the 2014 American Music Awards Ceremony, she added another snide comment jabbing at Spotify and streaming services again. [29] Jason Aldean has followed Swift’s footsteps, and pulled his new album Old Boots, New Dirt from Spotify. [30]

Spotify executive, Ek, combats this frenzy and reports that artists that use Spotify to promote their music actually sell more, and that Spotify has returned over $2 billion to music industry today. Top artists like Swift are set to project over $6 million in revenue a year. [31] Despite the financial debate and moral controversy, the Spotify team still hopes for Swift to change her mind. [32]

[33] Taylor Swift is a firm believer in the value of music, and that it should not be free. Swift has pulled her music catalogue from Spotify.

It is unlikely that many artists will join Swift’s banning of the digital streaming business, as it is the digital age. Reports confirm that streaming services grew 28% in the first half of 2014. [26] Listeners’ habits changed; artists can sink, but digital streaming services will swim.

SPOTIFY: LOOKING AHEAD

Despite the recent controversies, Spotify has achieved success with their recent collaborations; the student discount and the partnership with Vodafone have led Spotify subscriptions to increase by 42%. [28] Spotify Family Plan has launched with popular demand and proven financial success with previous discount deals. The plan allows subscribers to add four family members to their account for half the price. [34]

Spotify’s name is globally recognized, and Spotify’s services are well integrated into the new digital age. Its key strategies and partnerships keep it on the bleeding edge of the music industry.

Sources

1. Spotify’s Logo, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

2. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, RT: 11.29.2014

3. Jeff Levick, RT: 11.29.2014

4. Steve Savoca, Spotifypress.com, RT:11.29.2014

5. Ken Parks, Evolver.fm, RT: 11.29.2014

6. Spotify Interface Layout, RT: 11.29.2014

7. Spotify Business Information, investing.businessweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

8. Spotify Official Website, spotify.com/us, RT: 11.29.2014

9. Spotify Press Information, spotify.com/information, RT: 11.29.2014

10. “Spotify and competitors play to their musical strengths”, usatoday.com, RT: 11.29.2014

11. “YouTube Launching Spotify-Style Paid Music Service”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

12. Spotify and The Echo Nest Collaboration, RT: 11.29.2014

13. “Will Spotify’s hat trick help it pull ahead of competition?”, Fortune, RT: 11.29.2014

14. How Students Listen, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

15. “Spotify Ties Music to Personal Stories in Its New Ads”, adweek.com, RT: 11.29.2014

16. “Spotify Unveils Video Takeover Ad Product for Free Users”, telecompaper.com, RT: 11.29.2014

17. “Spotify is bringing video ‘takeover ads’ to its free service”, theverge.com, RT: 11.29.2014

18. Spotify Video Takeover Format, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

19. “Vodafone offers postpaid customers free Spotify Premium access”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

20. “Spotify partners with Vodafone Australia for down under listeners”, rainnews.com, RT: 11.29.2014

21. “Vodafone Australia and Spotify join forces!”, vodafone.com, RT: 11.29.2014

22. “Spotify adds support for Apple’s CarPlay in update to iOS app”, talkingnewmedia.com, RT: 11.29.2014

23. “Spotify Adds CarPlay Support in Latest iOS Update”, macrumors.com, RT: 11.29.2014

24. “Apple CarPlay comes to Pioneer stereos as Spotify adds support”, engadget.com, RT: 11.29.2014

25. “Tuneup, redefined: You can now Spotify your Uber ride”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

26. Uber and Spotify Partnership, Uber.com, RT: 11.29.2014

27. “Taylor Swift is right about music, wrong about Spotify, says CEO Ek”, CNET, RT: 11.29.2014

28. “Why Taylor Swift Will Lose Her Battle With Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

29. “AMAs: Taylor Swift Continues Anti-Streaming-Service Stance in Dick Clark Award Speech”, hollywoodreporter.com, RT: 11.29.2014

30. “Jason Aldean Agrees with Taylor Swift, WIll Remove New Album From Spotify”, musictimes.com, RT: 11.29.2014

31. “$2 Billion and Counting”, spotify.com, RT: 11.29.2014

32. “Here’s Why Taylor Swift Pulled Her Music From Spotify”, TIME, RT: 11.29.2014

33. “Taylor Swift and the Whole Spotify Thing”, uloop.com, RT: 11.29.2014

34. “Spotify launching family plan with cheaper subscriptions for families”, theguardian.com, RT: 11.29.2014

Sirius XM Radio

Posted on October 5, 2014 by areeves

by Allie Reeves

[1] SiriusXM Logo

The Sirius Story:

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is a satellite radio service that offers commercial-free streaming on over 175 channels in the United States and Canada. These channels are comprised of every type of radio – music, news, sports, talk, and more [2]. It is currently the largest radio broadcaster and caters to about 26.7 million subscribers [3].

[30] SiriusXM Programming

Currently, the most popular way for subscribers to enjoy SiriusXM Radio is in the comfort of their cars. SiriusXM has arrangements with over forty automakers for installation of their services directly into the vehicle [3]. However, as of recent, SiriusXM has become available to stream directly online in your home or office, as well as an app that can be accessed on Smartphones and Tablets.

SiriusXM currently offers three different packages: Sirius Select, Sirius All Access, and Sirius Mostly Music. The packages can be bought on a monthly or annual basis and range in price from $9.99 to $199 [4].

[4] Most Popular Packages for SiriusXM Customers

The Sirius Team:

[6] Scott Greenstein, President & Chief Content Officer

[5] James E. Meyer, CEO

[7] Patrick L. Donnelly, Executive Vice President and General Counsel

Finances:

[31] SiriusXM finances as of December 1, 2014

SiriusXM recently released their 2014 Third Quarter Results, which revealed a 10% increase in revenue since this time last year, putting the company at a record high of $1.1 billion. This is higher than analysts originally anticipated for the company, as they put the company’s assumed revenue at $1.04 billion. The company also increased its subscriber count by 1.2 million [8].

Interest in shares of SiriusXM increased rapidly during the month of November. As of November 14^th, there has been an increase of 2.8% since October 31^st up to 247, 283,696. The company is now up to a $3.75 price on their stock [32].

Competitors:

[11] Apple Inc. Logo

SiriusXM’s current competitors are Apple and iHeartMedia, as well as regular terrestrial radio. Pandora and Spotify have also been named as competitors, but in a recent interview with James Meyer, CEO of SiriusXM, the two services were ruled out.

[12] iHeartMedia Logo

Meyer explained these companies are streaming services, which he doesn’t view as competition, but as its own distinct technology. Meyer also stated that out of them all, terrestrial radio is their primary competition, with 220 million people that use it everyday [9].

However, with Apple’s new CarPlay, that might not be the case for much longer. CarPlay gives drivers access to all of their music, podcasts, and audiobooks with the touch of a button, and major auto companies like Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Ferrari are already on board. The venture is still in its early stages, but since SiriusXM is primarily used by vehicle subscribers, CarPlay could end up being a serious competitor [10].

[13] Apple CarPlay

The Sirius Edge:

What sets SiriusXM apart from its competitors at Apple, and iHeartMedia is the company’s original content that can only be accessed through subscriptions to SiriusXM.

[15] The Howard Stern Show, one of the most popular talk shows on SiriusXM

Some of the most popular original content shows include The Howard Stern Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and NFL Radio, although many more are available [3]. This original content helps keep subscribers tuning in, and keeps SiriusXM’s churn rate at an impressive 1.9%. It also helps the company keep their acquisition costs low, which has recently become problematic for companies like Pandora [14].

[17] SiriusXM Town Hall Event in the Fishbowl

SiriusXM is also known for their “Town Hall” Series. These intimate gatherings take place in the SiriusXM fishbowl, a private listening studio, where entertainers sit down with a live studio audience comprised of about 30 SiriusXM subscribers who have won an invitation to the event [16].

[19] Taylor Swift at a Town Hall Event for SiriusXM

Recently, SiriusXM was able to snag Taylor Swift for a Town Hall Event. Subscribers had the chance to ask her questions and listen to songs off of her newest album, 1989. This event comes after Swift’s recent decision to pull her music off of Spotify, giving even more leverage to SiriusXM [18].

The Today Show for SiriusXM:

This past year, SiriusXM announced a major deal with NBC, in which simulcasts of the hit NBC show, The Today Show, would be broadcasted on the satellite radio service. The format of bringing a morning show to radio has been done before, unsuccessfully. However, what makes this different is that SiriusXM will not be airing segments of the popular morning show, they will be airing the program identically as it airs on television [20].

[24] The Today Show

This move was a strategic boost for both companies. The show airs during popular morning drive time, when radio listening is at its highest. The deal will allow NBC to access SiriusXM’s 26 million listeners, and SiriusXM hopes to draw in more subscribers that are already fans of the show.

[21]

Suing Sirius:

SiriusXM has come under fire in the past year over use of music recorded before 1972. More recently, individual bands have started going after the company, claiming that they deserve compensation. Although songs recorded before February 15^th, 1972 are not covered by federal copyright law, some artists and labels have been seeking protection under individual state laws – and the courts have been agreeing. As of November 17^th, the 1960s rock band, The Turtles, has had two victories against the satellite radio company [22].

[25] Rock Band The Turtles in the 1960s

The court ruled that music recorded before 1972 still has a public performance right and that digital services cannot use it without permission or compensation. SiriusXM has requested to dismiss the lawsuit, but it has been rejected. The judge ruled that SiriusXM has until December 5^th to show any factual issues that would be cause for a trial. If none are found, she will rule in favor of the band, and “assess damages” [23].

What’s Next:

[28] Joel Osteen

SiriusXM recently announced that Golf Hall of Fame member Sir Nick Faldo will receive his own show, where he will talk golf and get to know golf enthusiasts, while they get a chance to know him [26]. SiriusXM also launched a new pop channel, Venus, as well as adding some of their popular internet only channels like Y2Kountry and Utopia to their satellite lineup. Joel Osteen Radio will also be coming to SiriusXM, a station rooted in the power of “positive thinking with messages of inspiration” [27].

[33] Holiday music channels at SiriusXM

SiriusXM is currently celebrating the sounds of the holiday season with the addition of two new Holiday Music channels, Holly and Holiday Traditions. They plan to release more within the upcoming month [33].

Also effective January 2015, there will be an increase of 1.4 percentage points in the U.S. Music Royalty Fee applied to most SiriusXM audio packages, in order to fund royalty payments to the music industry [29].

Sources

1. SiriusXM’s Logo 2014, Fbnstatic.com, RT: 11/20/2014

2. What is SiriusXM?, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

3. Corporate Overview, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

4. Our Most Popular Packages, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

5. Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

6. President & Chief Content Officer, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

7. Executive Vice President and General Counsel, SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

8. “SiriusXM Reports Third Quarter 2014 Results”, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

9. “Sirius XM CEO: I Don’t See Spotify As A Direct Competitor”, Benzinga.com, RT: 11/22/2014

10. “Is Apple’s New Toy a Sirius XM or Pandora Killer?”, Fool.com, RT: 11/22/2014

11. Apple Inc. Logo, Worldofdtcmarketing.com, RT: 11/22/2014

12. iHeartMedia Logo, Billboard, RT: 11/24/2014

13. Apple Car Play, Uncrate.com, RT: 11/24/2014

14. “Sirius XM’s Main Edge Over Competitors”, Fool.com, RT: 11/28/2014

15. The Howard Stern Show, Tuaw.com, RT: 11/22/2014

16. SiriusXM Town Hall, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

17. SiriusXM Fishbowl Event, Howstuffworks.com, RT: 11/28/2014

18. “Taylor Swift’s Exclusive 1989 “Town Hall” to Air Live on SiriusXM”, Investor.siriusxm.com, RT: 11/24/2014

19. Taylor Swift for SiriusXM, SiriusXM Blog, RT: 11/22/2014

20. “Starting in June, ‘Today’ Will Simulcast on SiriusXM”, New York Times, RT: 11/28/2014

21. Today Show Radio on SiriusXM, YouTube, RT: 11/28/2014

22. “Rock band wins again in copyright battle against Sirius XM”, The Times of India, RT: 11/28/2014

23. “New York Court Delivers Third Strike Against Sirius XM on Pre-1972 Sound Recordings”, Sound Exchange, RT: 11/28/2014

24. Today Show Logo, Momsdemandaction.org, RT: 11/28/2014

25. The Turtles, Allmusic.com, RT: 11/28/2014

26. “Sir Nick Faldo to Host SiriusXM Show”, Techsonian.com, RT: 11/28/2014

27. New Channels and Lineup Changes, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

28. Joel Osteen, Lightsource.com, RT: 11/28/2014

29. “U.S. Music Royalty Fee Effective January 5, 2015”, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/28/2014

30. SiriusXM Programming, Siriusxm.com, RT: 11/20/2014

31. SiriusXM Financials, Google, RT: 12/1/2014

32. SiriusXM Stock Information, Watchlistnews.com, RT: 12/1/2014

33. Holiday Music at SiriusXM, Siriusxm.com, RT: 12/1/2014

iHeartMedia INC.

Link

by Michael Rubloff

Contact Information:

iHeartMedia INC. 200 East Basse Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78209 (210) 822-2828

Company History

iHeartMedia INC. was founded in 1972 with the purchase of a first FM channel in San Antonio under the name of Clear Channel Communications. iHeartMedia expanded over the course of thirty years, and by 1995 owned forty-three radio stations. However, with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, iHeartMedia radically expanded and added several stations. Currently, iHeartMedia owns eight hundred-fifty radio stations in the United States that reaches 150 markets. In September 2014, Clear Channel Communications rebranded itself as iHeartMedia INC. [1]

Clear Channel Logo [2]

iHeartMedia INC. logo [3]

On September 16th, 2014 Clear Channel made a massive commitment to the future by rebranding to iHeartMedia INC. The former name Clear Channel was derived from an AM channel and is no longer relevant. iHeartRadio however, is a massive source of entertainment for millions of people. iHeartMedia better reflects what Clear Channel had built and its goals for the future. iHeartMedia also felt that its name was not well known compared to other services such as Spotify and Pandora even though iHeartRadio provided millions of people everyday with entertainment. This move was made in order to make the brand and the product more synonymous with each other.

Corporate Leaders:

Robert Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia INC. [2]

Robert Pittman, Chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Richard J. Bressler, President and CFO of iHeartMedia INC. [2]

Richard J. Bressler, President and CFO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Wendy Goldberg- Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer

Wendy Goldberg, Executive Vice President and CCO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Gayle Troberman, Executive Vice President and CMO of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises of iHeartMedia INC. [4]

Financials:

iHeartMedia is a publically traded company in the OTC market (IHRT). Over the past year the stock has remained relatively stable with a year low of $6.10 and a high at $9.40. The high occurred in the week after the announcement of the rebranding to iHeartMedia.[5] Previously, the ticker for Clear Channel was CCO. In its third quarter report, iHeartMedia reported that revenues were up three percent to 1.6 billion dollars. [6]

Past Six Months of Stock Values of iHeartMedia [3]

Past Six Months of Stock Values of iHeartMedia [5]

Competitors:

iHeartMedia’s long-standing rivals have been CBS Radio and Cumulus Media. However, in the past ten years with the emergence of Satellite Radio, Sirius XM has taken over as iHeartMedia’s biggest rival in terms of revenue. iHeartMedia has permeated SiriusXM, as two of the stations featured on SiriusXM, Z100 and Kiis 102.7, are owned by iHeartMedia.

Pandora Logo [7]

Now that iHeartMedia is putting a focus on its online music service, iHeartRadio, it now competes with Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Radio, and Google Play. In this field iHeartRadio has a great deal of catching up to do as Spotify and Pandora dominate the online streaming market.

However, iHeartMedia has an advantage over its competitors because it crosses over multiple platforms. For instance, Other radio giants such as Cumulus or Sirius are limited to their radio stations. On the other hand, Pandora and Spotify are limited to their apps or their website. iHeartMedia is able to cross between these two platforms in order to better serve their customers desires. Because of this, it is able to capitalize on where its competitors are limited.

Events:

iHeartMedia is known for its excellence in creating live events directly catered to specific demographics. On October 2nd, it announced the first ever iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, a massive concert aimed at Latin music fans.[8] It took place on November 22nd, and was a massive success. This experimental event seems to have been a good investment for iHeartMedia as their Spanish and English radio stations reach “93 percent of Hispanics monthly” [9].

iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina logo [10]

The Fiesta Latina is the newest addition to iHeartMedia’s collection of live events including the Jingle Ball Concert Tour, Country Festival, and the iHeartRadio Music Festival. While it remains to be seen if the Fiesta Latina will be made into an annual event, it most likely will given its success. One week later, on October 9th, the lineups and locations of the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball Tour were announced. This annual tour has become one of the year’s most exciting events. The tour will begin on Sunday, November 30th and finish on Monday, December 22nd. This event is supposed to cater to listeners of the top40 stations on iHeartRadio and reflect what listeners want to see. This year the New York City concert will be streamed exclusively on Yahoo.com for fans who are unable to attend.[11]

October 2014:

October was a busy month for iHeartMedia as it made several business announcements. On October 7th, iHeartMedia announced a $200 million partnership with Omnicom to develop a multi platform device that will give insight into iHeartMedia’s events as well as technologies.[12]

While this will help Omnicom better target customers, the real winner is iHeartMedia. This deal is dangerous for iHeartMedia’s competitors because this project will allow iHeartMedia to see how it can improve on its multi platform features. Essentially, iHeartMedia will continue to widen the gap between what Pandora and Cumulus are able to do. This will help iHeartMedia become a more versatile company and extend its already industry leading reach.[12]

The next day on October 8th, iHeartRadio announced that it would be available on Android Wear beginning on October 15th. This represents another step forward for the integration of iHeartRadio in technology as iHeartRadio had already announced integration with “Amazon’s Fire Phone, Amazon’s Fire TV, Android Auto, Google’s Chromecast, Apple’s CarPlay, Samsung’s Gear 2 Smartwatch, Qualcomm’s AllPlay and new auto partnerships with Subaru, AT&T Drive, GM, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia and Volvo” [13] earlier this year. By spreading across to different manufacturers, iHeartMedia makes itself more accessible, convenient, and well known. This strategy is directly reflective of the rebranding because it exposes more users to the services provided by iHeartMedia.

iHeartMedia did not stop there. On October 15th, Gayle Troberman was named the Chief Marketing Officer of iHeartMedia. This is a new role created with the intention to “connect them (iHeartMedia) more closely to consumers, helping integrate the company’s brands, products and platforms even more deeply into consumers’ daily lives.” [14] This is necessary after the rebranding because it will decrease the amount of time needed for consumers to become familiar with the iHeartMedia brand. This is a fantastic idea and could pay off exponentially for iHeartMedia in the coming years. iHeartMedia is doing a fantastic job of identifying what it needs to improve and is taking logical steps to ensure it remains an industry leader.

What’s in the future:

In the next year, iHeartMedia hopes to continue to reach more customers through social media, live events, and radio. It hopes that its customers will become familiar with the iHeartMedia brand and be able to connect it to popular music events, radio stations, and the iHeartMusic application.

iHeartMedia has embraced the change that is coming to the industry and appears to pioneering the way for other companies to follow it. While the long term effects of rebranding remain to be seen, it has initially been successful. In the next half year, look for iHeartMedia’s competitors to try and catch up with the ability to move across platforms.

Resources

[1] Clear Channel Becomes iHeartMedia. Published September 16, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[2] Clear Channel Logo. Published June 26, 2012. Accessed November 29th.

[3] iHeartMedia INC. Logo. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 29th.

[4] Corporate Team. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[5] Stock Information. Updated Daily. Accessed November 29th.

[6] Financial Report. Published October 28th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[7] Pandora Logo. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[8] iHeartMedia Fiesta Latina Announcement. Published October 2nd, 2014. Accessed October 30th.

[9] iHeartMedia Factsheet. Date Published N/A. Accessed November 22nd.

[10] iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina Logo. Published November 22nd. Accessed November 29th

[11] Jingle Ball Tour. Published October 9th. Accessed November 22nd.

[12] iHeart Media Omnicom Partnership. Published October 7th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[13] iHeartRadio Android Wear Integration. Published October 8th, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

[14] Gayle Troberman named iHeartMedia’s Chief Marketing Officer. Published October 15, 2014. Accessed November 22nd.

Principles & Practices

Website by the students of TRF235

Tag Archives: Pandora

iHeart Media & Entertainment

iHeartMedia, Inc

200 East Base Road

San Antonio, Texas

HISTORY

iHeart Media was originally founded in San Antonio, Texas under the name Clear Channel Communications. The company was founded by Lowry Mays and B.J. McCombs in 1972. In 2008, the company became private by a leveraged buyout through Bain Capital, LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners.

FINIANCIAL

iHEART MUSIC FESTIVALS

[23] iHeartRadio celebrated One Direction’s 2013 album Midnight Memories with a special release party.

iHEART GLOBALLY

THE FUTURE

Cumulus

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio

Spotify

Pandora

ADDRESS/CONTACT

Click here to read about Forbes content contributor Amadou Diallo‘s personal opinions when comparing three different music streaming services: iTunes Radio, Pandora And Spotify.

Sources:

Sirius XM Radio

iHeartMedia INC.

Link

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Company History

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