AN OPENING FOR PANDORA?

Could Pandora become a major player in on-demand streaming? An Investor’s Business Daily story suggests the company has a real opening now. The streaming-radio giant acquired on-demand service Rdio and so has the bones to roll out a competitor to Spotify and Apple Music. Investor’s writer Michele Chandler cites a report (from Macquarie Research, very much behind a paywall) contending that Apple’s current focus on its TV gives Pandora an opportunity.

Apple has moved its Pandora-like iTunes Radio feature out of its free tier, and the report suggests this could help Pandora continue to use its ad-supported free radio to migrate users to its paid services—without competition in that vein from Cupertino.

Pandora’s listenership is up year-over-year and retains around 78m monthly users; the company is expected to spearhead a substantial international expansion this year.

What’s more, Pandora is one of the few trusted brands in the digital music space and remains the #1 free music app (followed by Spotify, with Soundcloud, iHeartRadio and Shazam also among the leaders). Could it use radio to bring hitherto unfamiliar listeners into the on-demand sphere? Stay tuned.