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Pandora Media Company History

By cgoth

  • Savage Beast Technologies & Music Genome Project Founded

    Tim Westergreen has the idea to deliver new music to listeners based on their musical taste preferences.

  • First funding from investors

    $1.5 million investment from angel investors

  • Pandora now employs 50 people

    Has cash flow issues and regularly skips payroll to stay afloat

  • First Major Success

    Trial in-store kiosk placement. Partnership with AOL Music & Best Buy

  • Company nearly fold for the first time

    Former employees sue to recoup backpay

  • Walden Venture Capital bails out Pandora

    $9 million investment allows the company to repay its employees

  • Several major deals fall through

    Forces leadership to rethink the business model

  • New Business Strategy & Leadership

    Focus on consumer listeners directly. Hired Joe Kennedy as CEO. Change name to Pandora Media.

  • Pandora internet radio launches online

    Paid subscription service only.

  • Shift to advertisement supported, free model

    The company sells its first ad

  • $12 million more venture capital funding

    Mainly from Hearst Interactive Media

  • Federal board raises royalties, tripling Pandora's costs

    Increased content acquisition nearly bankrupts the company, but they fight back with grassroots efforts and lobbyists.

  • First Generation iPhone Released

    Pandora stops everything to develop an one of the first apps for the iOS mobile platform.

  • Temporary settlement of the royalty agreement reached

    Better than the initial changes but still increases content acquisition costs

  • Partnership agreement with automakers

    FIrst agreement makes Pandora a default app in FOrd models equipped with Sync. Other manufacturers soon follow.

  • Best Internet Application Award

    75 Million Users

  • IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange (Ticker symbol: P)

    $1.3 billion valuation

  • Joe Kennedy announces his resignation

    Effective immediately once his replacement is named

  • Major Milestone Announcement

    200 million users, 140 million mobile users, 70 million active users, 2.5 million paid users, 8% share of all US radio listening, 100,000 unique artists, and 1 million unique songs

  • Announced a new media planning platform

    Integrates with popular advertising softwares and automates the entire advertiser process

  • Pandora purchases KXMZ-FM in Rapid City, SD

    The company hopes this will allow them to pay fair and equitable royalty rates compared to their competitors.