There was much excitement yesterday around the IPO of US music service Pandora, so how did it do? Well, having priced the offering at $16 per share, it opened at $20 per share, valuing the company at $3.2 billion. It then surged to $26, before closing the day back down at $17.42 – still 9% higher than the original offer price. Founder Tim Westergren was doing the interview rounds yesterday while all this was happening. Billboard pressed him on how Pandora plans to return to profit. “I’m a musician, I believe in compensating artists. But I think we pay too much. Maybe more importantly,there’s this dramatic lack of parity between different forms of radio. That’s an issue that’s got to be addressed in the coming years,” he says, before promising to take an active role in the next royalty-setting debate in 2015. “We weren’t participants in the last rate setting. We will be at the next one. What I can say is that we’ll lean into it.” Meanwhile, CTO Tom Conrad says Pandora doesn’t feel threatened by the various cloud music services. “The figure that surprises most folks is that about 80 percent of music consumed each week comes from music radio. Only 20 percent comes from owned music. We’re really focused on defining the future of radio. That’s the mainstream opportunity.” Source: Wired Source: Billboard Source: TechCrunch
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