Sure, the ad doesn’t point out that the ability to generate customized playlists is available only in the Slacker Premium Radio option that sets subscribers back $9.99 a month. However, it’s clear that Pandora has become fair game as the industry leader.
It will be interesting to see how Sirius XM markets its Pandora-like My SXM platform, especially if Slacker is successful in targeting Pandora.
Another company attacking Pandora, without the attack ads, is eMusic. The dot-com pioneer became one of the first websites to begin selling digital music in 1998. Its premium subscription model has kept its popularity in check, as music fans have been hesitant to shell out monthly fees for access to a library that includes a set number of download credits. Even Pandora has struggled to grow outside its free ad-supported service.
The new model finds eMusic replacing its subscription-based credits with a la carte pricing. This may seem to make eMusic’s new strategy a bigger threat to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and iTunes, but the site’s seasoned music-discovery platform does make it a threat to Pandora if music fans gravitate to the new approach.
Kennedy speaks
Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy presented at a Goldman Sachs tech conference on Wednesday. He pointed out the opportunity to disrupt radio, something that Sirius XM knows all too well, with 240 million people listening to an average of 50 hours a month of broadcast radio.
Pandora has become a play on mobile popularity. Just 20% of Pandora’s usage is taking place on desktop browsers these days. A big push has been integration into automobiles, and that’s where Sirius XM needs to pay attention. Some cars even come with thumbs-up and thumbs-down features as listeners stream Pandora in their cars through their smartphones.
However, Kennedy was respectful of Sirius XM. When asked if the platforms were comparable, Kennedy countered that Sirius XM has invested heavily in news, talk, sports, and other live spoken content that doesn’t fit with Pandora’s value proposition.
Even if Kennedy is merely being nice so he doesn’t get Sirius XM to turn against Pandora with its automotive partners — where satellite radio is far more lucrative — he’s right. Both services have been able to grow in recent years. Broadcast radio is the common enemy.
Well, Pandora may now have to start taking shots at Slacker. The battlefield is always changing.
That’s about it, but another interesting week is on the way.
The article This Week in Sirius XM Radio originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Rick Aristotle Munarriz.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Aristotle Munarriz owns shares of Liberty Media. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of Amazon.com.
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