PANDORA PAYOUTS PASS $2 BILLION MARK

Pandora says it has generated more than $2 billion in all-time royalties for artists and writers. This milestone comes just nine months after the online radio power reached the $1.5 billion mark.

“The rapid acceleration of royalty payments from internet radio is very promising news for the industry," said Pandora chief Tim Westergren. “We are delighting listeners, driving discovery for new music and creating powerful new promotional tools for musicians, all while creating a massive new revenue stream for labels and artists that has never existed before from radio. Music makers and the art they produce are the backbone of Pandora, and I'm proud that we now play such a large role in helping them thrive and grow their careers.”

Westergren declared the growth of the format “very promising news for the industry,” touting 80 million users who spend 23+ hours per month “streaming their personalized stations, thumbing their favorite songs and discovering new artists on Pandora.” In a related story, the word “thumbing” makes us uncomfortable.

While on-demand streaming has dominated much of the industry narrative of late, Pandora commands loyalty from its sizable user base that would rather just listen than “curate.” However, Pandora will enter the on-demand fray when it builds a streaming service on the bones of acquisition Rdio.

To spread the company’s good news, Pandora’s Lars Murray and Jeff Z have created a station called “Recordings of People Rolling Around on Big Piles of Money.”