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SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

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Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#61

Post by cirnine »

rubicon33 wrote: post #55
treis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Poor Pandora and their investors. This is for about a quarter of what they were worth just 4 years ago. They also got 3.5 billion for a company that hasn't made any money in its 18 year existence so it's hard to feel too bad.

Being a business noob, I've got to ask - How exactly does a company that makes nothing in 18 years, get acquired for 3.5 billion?

Pandora brought in $1.4 billion in revenue in 2017, and will have even more revenue in 2018.

Of course, licensing rates means that the company only gets to see a few hundred million of that, and a significant portion of that needs to go to advertising sales personnel -- audio advertising is incredibly hands-on compared to other forms of internet advertising.

As an aside: it was interesting when the stock cratered last year to the point where the market cap of the company was lower than its annual revenue -- all the revenue in the world doesn't make up for negative margins.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#62

Post by TylerE »

latortuga wrote: post #13
wil421 wrote: post #9

Cancelling Sirus is always interesteing. I always say I don’t want to pay the $90 or however much for 6 months of access. No $50 is also too high. How about $30? Ok sure I’ll pay. I think Sirus only makes money off the folks who forget to cancel after the promotional period. It’s like $20 a month and I’ve forgot to do it my self for a couple months. Pandora always had the best selections on their radio channels. Spot…

My experience is that Spotify's Daily Mix playlists are actually remarkably good "radio stations"! I get up to 6 different "stations", they keep generating random new tracks the longer you listen, and they do a reasonably good job of segmenting the different styles of music I enjoy. The naming is wonky but I think the Daily Mixes are a much better "radio" than the actually-named-radio feature in Spotify. And they aut…

Yeah, they're great, but I wish they had some knobs to twiddle - like how often to play new stuff vs stuff I've played. It's a bit too easy to create feedback loops. Like say I'm trying to learn a song on guitar and play a song say 5 or 6 times. Now in my Daily Mix stations that'll be the ONLY song by that artist that they play.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#63

Post by cptskippy »

post_break wrote: post #51
cptskippy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After buying an XM enabled car from a dealership, I was extremely disappointed when I started receiving weekly mailings and phone calls from them as my "trial" was expiring. I am still pissed off about the lengths I had to go to in order to stop receiving communications from them. They refused to remove my contact information from their system and could not promise I wouldn't be contacted again in the future. I had t…

I told them I sold my car, they stopped calling after that. It was still annoying.

I discussed that option with the person I talked to on the phone and that doesn't stop mail solicitations or prevent them from contacting you in the future.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#64

Post by TylerE »

jbob2000 wrote: post #5
relaunched wrote: post #3

This makes me side. I am a long-time, paid subscriber. We'll see what happens next, fingers crossed. I'm not sure if this was a win for the team or a mercy killing. But, if someone can explain what's in this for customers, that would be very helpful.

SiriusXM is dying, if not already dead. Why do I need satellite radio when I can just listen to a podcast, or preload a bunch of music on my phone? Or just stream? 10 years ago, you could still do these things, but it was harder or very expensive. Now, you just open an app on your unlimited data phone, plug in the aux cable, and start driving. So this purchase is about Sirius re-entering the market. I think they'll p…

A large portion of my listening is to talk content. Either news (live) or sports (again, live).

TBH the sound quality is too bad for even casual music listening unless I'm really desperate.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#65

Post by unsignedint »

Recently, I got Pandora Plus through T-mobile promotion. I was enjoying it until one day, while driving, I got "Can't skip due to licensing restriction" which reminded me of the scene in Fifteen Million Merits from Black Mirror...

What worse was it was bit off from type of song I asked for, and particularly I couldn't stand to listen to. I switched back to Google Play Music, which has a mix of my own uploads and (smaller for things in my taste, but doesn't complain I can't skip) music from the service.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#66

Post by bsder »

sf_rob wrote: post #40
cptskippy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After buying an XM enabled car from a dealership, I was extremely disappointed when I started receiving weekly mailings and phone calls from them as my "trial" was expiring. I am still pissed off about the lengths I had to go to in order to stop receiving communications from them. They refused to remove my contact information from their system and could not promise I wouldn't be contacted again in the future. I had t…

Sirius and Onstar are two of the worst things about my car purchase. I wonder the degree to which these partnerships hurt these car brands for short term profit. Things I want in an OEM receiver: 1) Carplay/Android Auto, 2) Software updates for 1, 3) Radio, 4) To never do anything else ( call me, install bloatware apps, reorder menus, etc).

> Sirius and Onstar are two of the worst things about my car purchase. I wonder the degree to which these partnerships hurt these car brands for short term profit.

Well, you're stuck with the car by the time this kicks in...

And, apparently, the OnStar experience has just recently (The salesman sat there visibly appalled. The salesmen got his manager. The manager got somebody else. etc. By the time I was done, I had 7 different people from the dealership listening with shock on their faces.

Big manager: "Ummm, yeah, this is a problem. We are strongly encouraging our customers sign up for something that makes them angry. That's ... not good."

Apparently, nobody at the dealership had experienced a signup in the last 12 months.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#67

Post by LambdaComplex »

01100011 wrote: post #32
josefresco wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Why do I need satellite radio" I'll answer my myself: For my car(s). SiriusXM just ... works. No pairing, no bluetooth on/off dance, no cables, no unpairing my wife's phone, no setting my car radio's source, Internet connection or not ... it just works. The only other time I listen to "satellite" radio is in my office, streaming from my Chromebook - which is just silly but don't judge me.

I've had Sirius for bugs me is that drive under a tree or overpass. Seriously, having really bugs me.

...Yeah, that's pretty accurate

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#68

Post by davemp »

josefresco wrote: post #47
01100011 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had Sirius for bugs me is that drive under a tree or overpass. Seriously, having really bugs me.

my LTE Does that too

Having your service pre-download stations/playlists when on wifi helps with this.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#69

Post by triviatise »

jbob2000 wrote: post #5
relaunched wrote: post #3

This makes me side. I am a long-time, paid subscriber. We'll see what happens next, fingers crossed. I'm not sure if this was a win for the team or a mercy killing. But, if someone can explain what's in this for customers, that would be very helpful.

SiriusXM is dying, if not already dead. Why do I need satellite radio when I can just listen to a podcast, or preload a bunch of music on my phone? Or just stream? 10 years ago, you could still do these things, but it was harder or very expensive. Now, you just open an app on your unlimited data phone, plug in the aux cable, and start driving. So this purchase is about Sirius re-entering the market. I think they'll p…

i pay full retail for sirius xm in two cars. I dont even know how much it costs.

My wife listens to her LA stations, I listen mainly to news and talk radio.

When we drive cross country it works regardless of cell reception.

I dont listen to music at all.

Re: SiriusXM buys Pandora for $3.5 billion

#70

Post by Yhippa »

jbob2000 wrote: post #5
relaunched wrote: post #3

This makes me side. I am a long-time, paid subscriber. We'll see what happens next, fingers crossed. I'm not sure if this was a win for the team or a mercy killing. But, if someone can explain what's in this for customers, that would be very helpful.

SiriusXM is dying, if not already dead. Why do I need satellite radio when I can just listen to a podcast, or preload a bunch of music on my phone? Or just stream? 10 years ago, you could still do these things, but it was harder or very expensive. Now, you just open an app on your unlimited data phone, plug in the aux cable, and start driving. So this purchase is about Sirius re-entering the market. I think they'll p…

1. I don't have unlimited data. I pay for usage so I tend to download podcasts and music before I leave the house to save money. 2. I really like the new music and playlists the Sirius DJ's have come up with. In fact in terms of music curation and discovery I've not found anything better personally.
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