- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Pandora’s gains in its most recent fiscal quarter were helped by an increase in subscribers that stemmed from the caps the company placed on mobile listening in March. The company added over 700,000 net new subscribers to Pandora One, its ad-free service, in the quarter — a 114 percent increase year over year.
The gain in subscribers was “more than we expected,” CEO Joe Kennedy tells Billboard. “In the overall grand scheme of things, the cap worked as we expected.” He says a “very small percentage of listeners” were affected by the cap. Those listeners that did run into the cap returned to Pandora in some fashion. In addition to the option to subscribe to Pandora One, listeners had the option of paying $1 for unlimited listening through the end of the month.
STORY: Pandora’s Cap on Mobile Listening Causes Drop in Streams
Revenue grew 55 percent to $125.5 million. Mobile accounted for $86.7 million, up
97 percent from the prior-year period. Subscription revenue more than doubled to $20.4 million from $10.2 million.
The company’s net loss improved to $20.2 million from $28.6 million a year earlier.
Listener hours in the quarter grew 35 percent to 4.18 billion, up from 3.09 billion in the prior-year period. According to Pandora’s calculations, its share of national radio listening rose to 7.33 percent from 5.86 percent.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day