In today’s world, music streaming is the prevailing way to listen to music. It accounts for 85 percent of the music industry revenue, with Spotify and Apple Music leading the way.
But 20 years ago, the music industry was in a far different position. Physical sales accounted for the vast majority of revenue and music labels controlled the distribution model.
The iPod and Napster would change the course of history in 2001, as millions of people found new ways to own music, either through £1 single purchases or illegal torrents.
In a small apartment in San Francisco, Tim Westergren and Jon Kraft were also attempting to use infuse the music industry with technology. They had assembled a team of engineers and musicians to build a recommender system for music, called the Music Genome Project, which would “capture music at its most fundamental level” through over 450 attributes to describe a song.
Even though the system worked, Pandora (originally called Savage Beast Technologies) spent four years attempting to license the technology to AOL, Best Buy and the music industry. Nobody wanted anything to do with it, so in 2005, Pandora launched its own discovery service on the web.
The original concept of Pandora has stuck with it, a discovery tool for new music, alongside stations that are tailored to a user’s interests. Some things have changed, Pandora now uses artificial intelligence to instead of musicians to categorise the songs.
Pandora was the first online service to make personalisation a key part of the experience, which has been imitated by Spotify and Apple Music. Most music operators at the time either offered a library without any recommendations or basic radio channels.
Five years after launch, Pandora reached 40 million monthly active users. The launch of the iPhone and Bluetooth car radios accelerated the company’s growth, and Pandora quickly adapted its application for all platforms.
However, as with most streaming services, is struggled to make a profit. Until 2019, Pandora had not made a profit and even inside SiriusXM, it continued to struggle, although it has seen improvement in the past few years.
This was partly due to Pandora’s slow shift from advertising to subscriptions, which Spotify and Apple Music capitalised on.
Pandora has since launched Stories, a marketing tool similar to Genius’ Behind the Lyrics, in which artists can give narrative and deeper insights into tracks. It also added podcasting, which looks to be the next battleground for all of the key music streaming services.
We have collected data and statistics on Pandora Music. Read on below to find out more. Looking for in-depth information? Check out our music app report.
Pandora Key Statistics
- Pandora Music generated $2.1 billion revenue in 2023, with revenue growth almost flat on the previous year
- SiriusXM has reported four straight years of gross profit for Pandora, after a decade of annual losses
- Pandora had 46 million monthly active listeners in 2023; this has been steadily falling since 2016
- It also had six million paid subscribers in 2023, a small decline on the 6.2 million in 2022
Music App Report 2024
Want to learn more about the music app industry? In our Music App Report, we cover financials, usage, downloads, and demographics by app and industry, alongside market share, engagement, and benchmarks.
Pandora Overview
| Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|
| Launch date | November 2004 |
| HQ | Oakland, California |
| People | Roger Lynch (CEO), Aimée Lapic (CMO), David Gerbitz (COO), Chris Phillips (CPO) |
| Business type | Subsidiary |
| Parent company | SiriusXM Holdings |
| Industry | Music streaming |
Pandora Revenue
Pandora’s revenue increased by 0.7% in 2023. Revenue growth has been stagnant since 2021.
Pandora revenue 2011 to 2023 ($bn)
| Year | Revenue ($bn) |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 0.26 |
| 2012 | 0.41 |
| 2013 | 0.63 |
| 2014 | 0.91 |
| 2015 | 1.16 |
| 2016 | 1.38 |
| 2017 | 1.46 |
| 2018 | 1.56 |
| 2019 | 1.72 |
| 2020 | 1.69 |
| 2021 | 2.07 |
| 2022 | 2.09 |
| 2023 | 2.11 |
Sources: Music App Report, Company data
Pandora Profit
SiriusXM posted $638 million gross profit for Pandora in 2023, its third year of annual profit.
Pandora gross profit/loss 2010 to 2023 ($mm)
| Year | Gross profit/loss ($mm) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | -1.8 |
| 2011 | -16 |
| 2012 | -38 |
| 2013 | -27 |
| 2014 | -30 |
| 2015 | -169 |
| 2016 | -342 |
| 2017 | -518 |
| 2018 | -333 |
| 2019 | -938 |
| 2020 | 571 |
| 2021 | 743 |
| 2022 | 655 |
| 2023 | 638 |
Sources: Music App Report, Company data
Pandora Users
Pandora had 46 million active listeners in 2023, an 8% decrease on 2022 figures.
Pandora listeners 2009 to 2023 (mm)
| Year | Users (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 20 |
| 2010 | 42 |
| 2011 | 48 |
| 2012 | 54 |
| 2013 | 65 |
| 2014 | 81 |
| 2015 | 78 |
| 2016 | 81 |
| 2017 | 74 |
| 2018 | 69 |
| 2019 | 63 |
| 2020 | 58 |
| 2021 | 52 |
| 2022 | 50 |
| 2023 | 46 |
Sources: Company data
Pandora Subscribers
Pandora has six million active subscribers, who pay for the app’s premium service with no adverts.
Pandora subscribers 2014 to 2023 (mm)
| Year | Subscribers (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 3.3 |
| 2015 | 3.8 |
| 2016 | 3.9 |
| 2017 | 4.8 |
| 2018 | 5.6 |
| 2019 | 6.2 |
| 2020 | 6.3 |
| 2021 | 6.3 |
| 2022 | 6.2 |
| 2023 | 6 |
Sources: Company data
Pandora Annual Music Streams
SiriusXM reported 10.4 billion annual music streams in 2023, its fifth straight year of decline
Pandora music streams 2008 to 2023 (bn)
| Year | Hours listened (bn) |
|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.9 |
| 2009 | 1.8 |
| 2010 | 3.8 |
| 2011 | 8.2 |
| 2012 | 14 |
| 2013 | 15 |
| 2014 | 20 |
| 2015 | 21 |
| 2016 | 22 |
| 2017 | 20 |
| 2020 | 12.5 |
| 2021 | 11.5 |
| 2022 | 10.9 |
| 2023 | 10.4 |
Note: Figures after 2020 are ad-supported listening hours. Source: Statista
Music Streaming Revenue
Music streaming has become the main way artists and publishers generate income from music. In 2023, the industry generated $47.7 billion revenue.
Global music streaming revenue 2012 to 2023 ($bn)
Want to learn more? Check out our Music App Report
Pandora FAQ
How many stations have been created on Pandora?
Over 10 billions stations have been created by users and moderators
What is Pandora’s peak yearly streams?
Pandora’s peak yearly stream volume is 418 billion, which it hit in 2015
How long does the average user listen to Pandora per day?
The average Pandora user listens for two hours, 15 minutes per day
What is Pandora’s largest acquisition?
Pandora acquired Ticketfly in 2015 for $450 million. This was sold two years later to Eventbrite for $200 million
How long does it take an artist to make a dollar on Pandora?
It takes an artist 752 streams to earn a dollar, more than Apple Music, Deezer and Spotify (Visual Capitalist)
What is Pandora’s largest demographic?
Pandora’s largest age demographic is 25 to 34 year olds, followed by 18 to 24 (Statista)
What was the most popular track of the 2010’s on Pandora?
Earned It by The Weeknd was the most popular track of the decade, followed by Someone Like You by Adele and See You Again by Wiz Khalifa (ft. Charlie Puth) (Hello Giggles)
More Music & Audio App Data
- Spotify Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Clubhouse Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- SoundCloud Revenue And Usage Statistics (2024)
- Music Streaming App Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Apple Music Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Deezer Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Amazon Prime Music Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
