Pandora boasts themselves as the “world’s most powerful music discovery platform” but, even the most powerful platform in the world has to cut employees.
On Thursday, Pandora announced on their website that their company will be reducing the number of U.S. employees by 7% in the next few months. In addition, the company explains that they are going to leverage their analytics platform and ad insertion technology to increase revenue. Pandora hopes to make more money without needing additional capital to fund future investments that would in turn increase advertising revenue and the number of paid subscribers.
Tim Westergren, the CEO of Pandora, explained in their press release that, “While making workforce reductions is always a difficult decision, the commitment to cost discipline will allow us to invest more heavily in product development and monetization and build on the foundations of our strategic investments.”
Meanwhile, one of Pandora’s competitors, Apple, is currently in talks with producers to create original content to add to their $10/month Apple Music service. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple Music hopes to begin offering original scripted TV shows and movies before 2018. This news should not come as a surprise. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, revealed during last quarter’s earnings call his commitment on creating new and original content.
“I would confirm that television has intense interest with me and many other people here. In terms of owning content and creating content, we have started with focusing on some original content, as you point out,” Tim Cook explained.
Along with Apple Music, Pandora is facing additional pressure from Spotify. Last year, Spotify announced their plan to create 12 original series for their streaming platform. Some of the shows include a documentary series about major moments in music history, a series developed by Russell Simmon’s production company, and a mockumentary about a dance competition.