I think the worst thing you can do about a situation is nothing.
– Ice Cube
As the new millennium started so did the future or music. In January of the year 2,000 in Oakland, CA. Pandora was started. Since its creation, Pandora has become one the top music streaming service available. Built on the idea that consumers should be offered a personalized music station. Now the age group that uses Pandora the most might surprise you because it’s actually those who fall under the classification of gen-x. While the second largest age group to use, Pandora is that of gen-y or millennials as we are better known. Why would this surprise you? Well once you consider that over 90% of the usage for Pandora is on mobile devices the previous stats can be quite a shock. Now, according to blog.Pandora.com on the 2016 top 100 liked songs Drake racked up 14 of the top liked songs. Also, the top liked genre was Hip-Hop with 42 of the top 100 liked songs. So, with over 81 million active monthly users who spend on average 25 minutes listening to Pandora a day it’s safe to say that music on Pandora hits a very wide target audience.
Ok now that I’ve loaded you up with a bunch of facts let me tell you what I believe this all means. Back in the day, let’s say pre-2000’s, if you wanted to hear a random song you turned on the radio. The only issue was the song that came on wasn’t always what you wanted to hear, and being that it was on the radio you couldn’t really skip it. Along came the internet and Pandora and now you could create a custom station just for your likes and you could even skip the songs you didn’t like. Now let me rewind really quick so my point doesn’t get lost. In a previous blog, I stated that once the internet came about it allowed independent artist to reach new heights previously only reserved for those who have been signed to a big label. Pandora an internet streaming radio service helped with this change. For the first time, ever independent artists could get their music on a nationwide service for free. The explosion of their reach was and continues to be an amazing feat. It was Pandora along with other streaming services that helped Chance the Rapper become the record breaking independent artist that he is. In my opinion Pandora Internet Radio is an achievable goal for any and all independent artists who are looking to expand their brand and maybe just maybe win a Grammy.
So let me ask you the reader, how many artists have you discovered or listened to for the first time thanks to Pandora?
