As
Pandora’s customer base shifts away from PCs, Pandora must now center its focus
on further development of its mobile app.
A product that was originally catered for the PC user must now shift its
focus to its mobile only listeners, which now account for more than 50% of its
users or over 175 million listeners. Even
those that do utilize the desktop version of Pandora spend most of their time
listening to Pandora via mobile, given 75% of Pandora listening hours now come
from phones and tablets. Not
surprisingly, most Pandora users have never even used Pandora on their desktops
- myself included.
Prior
to the release of the new Pandora App, the Pandora PC version had many innovative
features that were not yet available on the mobile app, such as the ability to
view lyrics, information about artists, songs and albums, and most importantly social
functionalities. As consumers’ habits
change, companies need to follow the Pandora trend and adapt quickly. This relaunch of the Pandora app has also
created an interesting opportunity for advertisers such as McDonald's, State
Farm, Nike and Sony. Listeners who visit
Pandora after clicking on a link that was shared by a friend will be greeted by
ads from these advertisers. Pandora’s mobile
revenue has reached $100 million; nevertheless, mobile ads have typically produced
less revenue per ad than desktop ads. It will be interesting to see the impact
of the app relaunch on the company’s mobile advertising revenues in the coming months.
My big issue w Pandora is the creeping towards too many ads. It may seem like a smart strategy to get people hooked and then they say "screw it, I'll subscribe." But they could just as easily abandon ship.
ReplyDeleteIt would be great to see those PC features on tablet. Better form factor for that type of content - often used on the go.