Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P), the leading Internet radio service, announced that it has generated more than $1.5 billion in all-time royalties for music makers, marking a major milestone for ad-supported music streaming. Pandora holds an important leadership role in the music industry, with nearly 80 million active monthly users tuning in to its service for more than 20 hours every month on average.
“We are very passionate about our mission to help artists find their audience and help listeners find their music – music they love, that moves them, that they personally connect with – and we are achieving significant momentum,” said Brian McAndrews, chairman and CEO of Pandora. “It took us nearly nine years to generate the first billion dollars in royalties, and just over a year to increase that total by 50 percent. We are partnering with music makers to fully tap into Pandora’s people, data and technology to unleash the music industry’s full potential. I am proud of our enormous royalty contributions, and our progress on building on a broader vision for the future of music.”
Pandora achieved this milestone due to joint revenue streams flowing from ad-supported and paying subscribers. The combined income from both sources enabled Pandora to monetize its advertising for the benefit of music makers, while additionally drawing monthly payments from listeners who prefer an ad-free experience. This ability to drive royalties to artists from subscription as well as previously untapped advertising revenue streams is integral to Pandora’s mission to unleash the power of music and foster growth for the music industry.
In addition to significant royalty payments, Pandora has launched a series of initiatives aimed at transforming how fans and musicians connect. Pandora provides transparency in listener demographics and music performance through the Insights dashboard on the Artist Marketing Platform alongside big-data analytics powered by Next Big Sound. Artists Audio Messaging and promotional partnerships for concert tours and new music releases are all part of Pandora’s mission to become an indispensable partner to the music industry while delivering its unparalleled personalized music discovery experience to listeners. (Original Source)
Shares of Pandora Media closed yesterday at $20.93. P has a 1-year high of $25.74 and a 1-year low of $13.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.45 and its 200-day moving average is $17.19.
On the ratings front, Pandora Media has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. In a report released yesterday, Nomura analyst Anthony Diclemente maintained a Hold rating on P, with a price target of $22, which implies an upside of 5.1% from current levels. Separately, on the same day, Needham’s Laura Martin reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and has a price target of $24.
According to TipRanks.com, which ranks over 7,500 financial analysts and bloggers to gauge the performance of their past recommendations, Anthony Diclemente and Laura Martin have a total average return of 7.5% and 25.0% respectively. Diclemente has a success rate of 59.5% and is ranked #480 out of 3766 analysts, while Martin has a success rate of 69.8% and is ranked #17.
The street is mostly Bullish on P stock. Out of 17 analysts who cover the stock, 13 suggest a Buy rating and 4 recommend to Hold the stock. The 12-month average price target assigned to the stock is $23.25, which represents a potential upside of 11% from where the stock is currently trading.
Pandora Media Inc provides internet radio services on smartphones, tablets, traditional computers and car audio systems, as well as other internet-connected devices.
