Mashable - The Social Media Guide - Latest Comments in Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Hooman Radfar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:30:14 -0000

I love Pandora. We put together a little project to show that love. Feel free to help - iheartpandora.com

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Independent — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:59:08 -0000

I'd definitely pay a few bucks a month for Pandora...think you're right about that sense of listener loyalty. Extra traffic really isn't going to help with the royalty problem, if anything it would just put more load on the servers and lead to two types of new costs...

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Gavroche — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:30:04 -0000

Noooooo! This would be terrible. We listen to Pandora everyday, and couldn't live w/o it:(

If Pandora does fold, this would be a great example of the purposes of copyright law being quashed by the way it's carried out. Its purpose is to promote art for the general welfare -- the more art there is, the better for the pubic. Because Pandora will have to pay so much royalties for their use of the music, they will not be able to operate. The royalties are too high. Seemingly, a manageable compulsory license here is needed.

Time for the Copyright Royalty Board & Congress to step in. Enough is enough!

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Jason X — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:01:52 -0000

No, don't go away Pandora! I love Pandora...

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

PaulGlazowski — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:26:11 -0000

I hesitate to think Google Trends excels, considering it isn't a neutral, fully comprehensive analyzer. But the same can be said of various other measurement services. (Alexa, comScore, etc.)

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Dan — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:24:20 -0000

I agree with the general ideas in your post. I just want to say that I discovered a lot of new music on Pandora, before it was cut off here in the UK, and bought a number (20/30) of CDs as a result. Last.fm is good but doesn't work for me personally. I would be willing to pay a modest subscription for Pandora, but really wouldn't want to listen to it if there were ads.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

PaulGlazowski — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:24:10 -0000

Pandora is definitely in a position to add to its feature set some social components. It's got a devoted fan base that might welcome those things.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

PaulGlazowski — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:22:57 -0000

Absolutely. Rates required of companies like Pandora are absurd. It's nearly the same idea of behind gouging by credit card companies. You might succeed and get out ahead, but it's hardly guaranteed.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Douglas Lampi — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:19:22 -0000

I really like how you've used Google Trends to show the popularity and usage of the various sites.

While Google Trends is hind-site, and won't show the start-ups of today that will dominate for tomorrow, this is a great way to compare the overwhelming number of social services and narrow your Branding efforts to the biggest shakers.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Jim — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:00:17 -0000

As a both a music lover and someone in the industry I really hope Pandora survives, it's the best radio station I have yet to see by far. Matches music extremely well and you can skip songs on the few occasions when it doesn't. I personally have discovered a lot of new music through Pandora, and I would venture to say that, especially with the move to mobile, others have/will as well.

I think it just comes down that integrating social aspects of the Internet is a necessity for ANY industry, and especially music. Personally I think Pandora has established itself as the best quality music radio, now it needs to make itself reachable to a larger base, and allow more interaction.

Great article, let's hope Pandora and other businesses like it can come through and bring in a newer, better model of the music industry!

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

andrew wise — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:57:44 -0000

Paul,

Thanks for this interesting perspective. With the flurry of coverage today regarding Pandora, I'm glad you took the time to step back from the situation and see if Pandora can do more to change the circumstances forced on them.

Fred Wilson talked about constraints being placed on startups, and I think that was a good observation. But looking at Pandora, they definitely have to lobby to get a more fair royalty structure, but they also have to look at creating new opportunities for revenue. If they aren't doing audio ads, why don't we see ticket affiliate links, event coverage, featured artists, etc.

Ther

There are oppo

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

pushaudio — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:55:28 -0000

Pandora has been a staple in my music diet since its inception a couple of years ago. I think the music genome project is the real value here. While the social aspect of pandora could be compelling, from my own experience the steady stream of music is what I value most from it. I get a lot a repetition in my streams but I also listen to some obscure music at times as well. If they can ramp up their listenership by uncovering new channels of distribution, they will survive. I think their issue is more on the business development side than on the application side. Truly one of the best Web 2.0 apps to come out in the last few years and would be disappointed to see it fade.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

PaulGlazowski — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:27:44 -0000

Of course :-) Is that how you prefer it? I figured the three graphs might appeal. It's been compressed.

Re: Pandora Might Avoid Extinction by Getting More Social

Simon — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:21:58 -0000

pretty interesting use of google trends! Just wanted to let you know that by using commas you can display the three graphs on the same chart :)