Pandora revealed a loss of $85.9 million in the third quarter of the year, according to Digital Trends. The news comes just two days after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple Music is a big hit, with 6.5 million paid subscribers and 8.5 million people using the three-months trial option.
While Apple music and Spotify are doing just fine, Pandora is seriously losing the music streaming war. Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play Music give users the freedom, in various forms, to choose their favorite songs or albums to play, while Pandora doesn’t give their customers that ability. Surely, this is a weak spot and the company needs to do something regarding this before it’s too late.
Is free music the best solution for Spotify?
Pandora CEO Brian McAndrews doesn’t seem too concern about it because his opinion is that this free on-demand, ad-serving business model is a losing plan. According to the same source, he said he thinks models like Spotify offering perpetually free music streaming will attract younger audiences, but “Whether that’s sustainable or not is a very different question.”
While Apple Music is on the same page with Spotify, their free three-months trial have recently ended for some customers. Still, Pandora CFO Mike Herring said that “this business plan isn’t economically sustainable, nor does that seem to be a good thing for the industry. Those leaky buckets will be plugged.”, stated Herring, quoted by Digital Trends.
Apple Music is definitely a threat for all streaming services
Since Apple Music made its debut in this music streaming war, Pandora’s “active listeners” dropped from 79.4 million to 78.1 million, meaning that the company’s future isn’t looking too bright. But it still has a big lead over its rivals and Pandora CEO and CFO opinion about the sustainability of the competitors ideas could prove quite accurate.
