Pandora is anxiously awaiting the decision on its streaming music royalty rates from the Copyright Royalty Board.
What those rates will look like partially drove the decision to purchase TicketFly.
That’s what CFO Mike Herring told the RBC Capital Markets’ Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications Conference.
Dec. 15 is the company’s best guess as to when a decision might come out of the CRB. The company is also working with the music industry directly on licensing deals.
The CRB decision, in part, will drive the subscription versus ad revenue mix. “We’re big believers in the subscription business,” said Herring.
Saying Pandora doesn’t need to go out and acquire more customers and go strictly for high volume, rather the strategy is: “We need to provide the right opportunities for upselling and cross-selling into higher value services.”
Pandora recently announced it’s partnering with Serial to distribute those podcasts. Herring characterized it as “the kind of content that drives repeat user engagement.”
