1 Thing to Watch When Pandora Reports

Rick Munarriz, The Motley Fool
Updated

Pandora reports on Thursday, and financial journalists will talk up the growth. Big deal. We know Pandora reports monthly audience metrics. Folks will also talk up the likely red ink. We know that, too.

However, the one area where Pandora can really blow investors away is by proving that more than 1% of its users are actually paying to use the site.

In this video, longtime Fool contributor explains why having just 12% of revenue coming from subscriptions is a problem for a music website. No other major player sees it that way.

  • Spotify has millions of paying subscribers.

  • Even Sirius XM Radio receiver-based subscribers have to pay an additional $3.50 a month for streaming content online.

  • Now Google has its All Access music subscription service that was announced last week.


For Pandora to have 70 million active monthly listeners is great, but having 69 million of them tuning in for free is not.

Pandora has won millions of devotees among music fans but few supporters on Wall Street. The online jukebox seems to be redefining the way we consume music, a transformation that's only likely to grow. But high royalty rates and competition from all corners threatens to silence the company. Can Pandora translate success with its listeners into a prosperous business model that will deliver for investors? Learn about the key opportunities and potential pitfalls facing the upstart radio streamer in The Motley Fool's new premium research report. All you have to do is click here now to subscribe to this invaluable investor's resource.

The article 1 Thing to Watch When Pandora Reports originally appeared on Fool.com.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Google. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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