Pandora's Boombox
Over the weekend the Washington Post ran a story about the much loved music streaming service Pandora. In the piece, Founder Tim Westergren says "We're approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision". His comments were prompted by the huge royalty fees the company is having to pay out in licensing fees, some 70% of it's estimated 25 million yearly profit.
As the old Greek story goes, Pandora's box contains all of mankind's evils, greed, vanity, slander, lying, envy and pining. It also contains one last thing, HOPE. While the evils (especially greed and vanity) are certainly intertwined into Pandora.com's problem, perhaps there is some hope in there as well.
I like many love Pandora. I use it daily, so does just about everyone else I know. I'm the type who really has no problem paying for music, in fact I routinely discover and *GASP* purchase music directly through Pandora. The entire arrangement can't help but feel like a win win for everyone involved.
Attention recording business, let the revenue match the form. Stream it free to build awareness and marketing. Generate the bulk of your cash through music I purchase, concerts I attend and your other licensing forms (movies and commercials etc).
Music is and will always be an important part of my life. However its a 2nd tier form of media. Background music is just that, something I listen to while I do one of 100 other things. The "sound track of my life" that plays while I work or drive should be satisfied by streaming light weight content. It doesn't even have to be free.
Did you even know there was a Pandora Pro account? I just discovered it myself, time to fight fire (money) with fire (money).
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