SiriusXM reviving talks to buy Apple Music competitor Pandora - report
Satellite radio company SiriusXM is reportedly in "active discussions" about buying Pandora, which recently began tackling Apple Music head-on through the launch of its on-demand Premium service.
No price agreement has been reached, sources informed the New York Post. Greg Maffei, the CEO of SiriusXM backer Liberty Media, has previously said that Pandora is worth about $10 per share, just slightly more than it was trading for on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning.
On May 9 Pandora signed a $150 million investment deal with KKR, which is set to close after 30 days. Rumors have hinted that the company is hoping to sell itself within that window.
In July last year Maffei is said to have floated a bid valued at $15 per share. Renewed interest could be linked to a lower cost, combined with Pandora finally having an on-demand service ready.
Pandora is a major player in online streaming, but until the Premium launch, it was a radio-only service that let people vote songs up or down to customize stations. In the March quarter its active listeners were down year-over-year from 79.4 million to 76.7 million, although revenue was up 6 percent to $316 million.
The company also saw 1.3 million trial users join Premium, even though the service only exited an invite phase in April.
Pandora is believed to rely mostly on ad revenue, having far fewer paid customers than Apple Music's 20 million and Spotify's 50 million. The balance could shift with the launch of Premium, particularly if SiriusXM is able to throw its marketing behind it.
No price agreement has been reached, sources informed the New York Post. Greg Maffei, the CEO of SiriusXM backer Liberty Media, has previously said that Pandora is worth about $10 per share, just slightly more than it was trading for on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning.
On May 9 Pandora signed a $150 million investment deal with KKR, which is set to close after 30 days. Rumors have hinted that the company is hoping to sell itself within that window.
In July last year Maffei is said to have floated a bid valued at $15 per share. Renewed interest could be linked to a lower cost, combined with Pandora finally having an on-demand service ready.
Pandora is a major player in online streaming, but until the Premium launch, it was a radio-only service that let people vote songs up or down to customize stations. In the March quarter its active listeners were down year-over-year from 79.4 million to 76.7 million, although revenue was up 6 percent to $316 million.
The company also saw 1.3 million trial users join Premium, even though the service only exited an invite phase in April.
Pandora is believed to rely mostly on ad revenue, having far fewer paid customers than Apple Music's 20 million and Spotify's 50 million. The balance could shift with the launch of Premium, particularly if SiriusXM is able to throw its marketing behind it.
Comments
However, I'll admit that I've only been paying about one-third of the regular price for their service for years.
One of my biggest beefs with them was how they would keep your credit/debit card or checking/routing numbers on file and charge a full-price, automatic renewal if you forgot to call and cancel/renegotiate periodically.
During my most recent 6-for-$30 renewal, I noticed they now offer a one-time payment using a credit/debit card. Previously, I had to send a cashier's check for each renewal to keep them from storing and using my payment information.