Have been to Pandora yet? Sounds great doesn't it? Type in the name of your favorite artist and a station is built that features the music of that artist and those of a similar sound, genre or era. In my opinion, it's a great way to listen to music over the internet.
Recently, Pandora's owner has complained that his company is struggling to turn a profit because more than 60% of it's incoming revenue is going back out in royalties to the artists whose music is streamed on the site. Pandora has been asking the labels and artists to take a reduced royalty rate so that it can remain competitive. The site is ad supported allowing listeners do so for free. Pandora's stocks have been bounced around like a ship on a stormy sea this past year.
I've enjoyed listening to the free music on Pandora, but, maybe, it's time for Pandora to consider a change in it's business model. Perhaps an approach more akin to Spotify is in order. After all, asking artists to take a pay cut when it's their music that makes the whole thing happen, seems kind of backward. In my opinion, those who use the music should be asked to help defray the cost of bringing the music to them. Other streaming sites are already doing this.
In other words, it may be time for a rate hike. Maybe even a tiered structure. Right now you can listen to Pandora ad free for $3.99 a month. This would become the ad supported version and this bottom tier could be called Pandora Basic. A second tier at $4.99 a month could be called Pandora Gold, and a third tier at $9.99 called Pandora premium would have no ads at all.
Users and Fans of Pandora might not like this, but as an artist it just makes more sense. The business of music is not only hard but it can be costly. Lots of money can be poured into the making of just a single recorded release. Reciprocity is all that music makers want
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