PANDORA HAILS GROWTH, TOUTS 2017 PLANS

With growth in both subscribers and advertising, Pandora has announced that it will exceed Q4 2016 revenue and EBITDA guidance. The digital-music giant also noted that it added 375k new subscribers to Pandora Plus late in the year.

In an effort to reduce operating costs, the company's U.S. employee base (with the exclusion of Ticketfly) will be reduced by 7% before Q1 is out. Pandora has also undertaken the leveraging of its analytics platform and ad tech to increase revenue and other efficiencies.

“2016 was a year of significant investment for Pandora," declared ruler Tim Westergren. In 2017, we will manage the business toward full year adjusted EBITDA profitability." In the same letter to stockholders, which can be read in its entirety here, Westergren lists subscriber growth and ad-business expansion among Pandora's key 2017 priorities, along with the further growth of AMP and other tools for fan engagement.

In related news, Pandora's Lars Murray today informed yet another intern that he wasn't the Lars from Metallica.