Smart play: Pandora's launching their IPO before the other big players start moving. With Google Music and Amazon Cloud Player coming into the market, Pandora's trying to get their offering done before competition gets fierce.
Feels like Groupon is doing something similar. With Google and Facebook moving closer into local deals and LivingSocial nipping at its heels, its only a matter of time before Groupon starts feeling the heat.
They're very different from amazon, google, and apple's current/coming offerings as they don't offer streaming on demand; they're a radio service. Even if there were 20 different on demand offerings, their business would still be valid as they're really selling their selection algorithms.
Ridiculous price, though. $1B? Seems very high for a service that only provides radio.
I was surprised that they got a single letter ticker symbol, so I looked up the history. It turns out that P used to be for Phillips Oil, which gave up the symbol when they merged with Conoco.
I'm amused by the fact that a tech company is taking an oil company's ticker.
I loved Pandora for the brief amount of time that I could use it "legally".
As long as I continue to get this message:
"Dear Pandora Visitor,
We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for listeners located outside of the U.S."
Sure, I have my Linode and could use Pandora, if I really wanted, but not everybody in Europe or elsewhere outside US wants to jump through hoops just to use some service.
I've never been a fan of Pandora. Usually my stations end up sounding like a typical classic rock FM station. The commercials they have on their site for the free service is almost as bad as FM radio commercials.
Agreed. You need to remember that all the stations are separate objects. So, on your techno stations, don't favorite soft rock. Oh, and pony up the cash for the paid service; it is worth every penny to not have commercials for business cards.
