July 15th, 2008

Pandora's internet radio has always been one of those sites that was really cool in concept, but too inconvenient to ever go mainstream. The service was long tied to computers only, and while it eventually expanded to special internet radios and some mobile phones, it still has yet to become a household name. But with the launch of Pandora's new iPhone app last Friday, it looks like the service is about to hit critical mass. It's a free, mobile, digital radio station that only plays music you like and lets you skip the stuff you don't. And it rocks.

Read the whole interview at TechCrunch.com

by Mike Musgrove

July 11th, 2008

Here it is, again. Apple's new iPhone, along with a new online store selling software applications for the device, meets the public today. And chances are good that the next-generation gadget, which comes with a faster Web connection than its predecessor, is already sold out.

Read the whole interview at Washingtonpost.com

July 11th, 2008

Today is a big day for fans of tiny gadgets that do big things, as Apple rolls out the new, speedier iPhone 3G. But perhaps the bigger news is the host of applications available in the new software update. The new toys include a bunch of games, news, sports and organizational tools, but the slate of music-related tools is pretty impressive. Most notable is the iPhone version of Pandora, the customizable Internet radio site that caters stations to your favorite bands. The Pandora app (available free via iTunes) lets users import their already-existing Pandora stations or create fresh ones for their phone.

Read the whole interview at RollingStone.com

July 11th, 2008

Pandora, an Internet radio company in Oakland, has enjoyed a cultlike following on the Web for its personalized music service. Now, it hopes to reach even more ears through Apple's iPhone.

Read the whole interview at SFgate.com

July 10th, 2008

Apple CEO Steve Jobs expected to launch his App Store — the online venue for third-party iPhone and iPod Touch applications — with 200 software offerings; he ended up with more than 500.

Read the whole interview at USAToday.com

May 30th, 2008

As a musician, Tim Westergren knows the importance of staying close to the fans. These days his main gigs are with devotees of Pandora, the online radio service that creates playlists around users' favorite songs and boasts over 12 million registrants. In 2006, on a trip to Austin, Westergren, 42, launched Pandora's "meet-ups" with a casual blog post inviting local listeners to a café. Now the town-hall-style meetings are a big part of his job. Though the ad-supported site is still not profitable, its users are key allies in the royalty battle between online radio and the record industry. We caught up with Westergren in Oakland, where Pandora is based.

Read the whole interview at CNNMoney.com

May 27th, 2008

When the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) issued its new statutory rate structure for Internet radio broadcasters last year, one of the leading voices opposing the new system was Pandora founder Tim Westergren. The issue has faded from the forefront in the last few months, but in that time Pandora has continued its efforts to negotiate a compromise, as well as strike new partnership deals to expand distribution of the personalized DJ service-the latest with Clear Channel Radio. Billboard checks in with Westergren on where both efforts stand.

Read the whole interview at Billboard.biz

May 27th, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Tim Westergren, the founder of the Internet radio station Pandora, could not have started his company at a worse time. Westergren, now 42, founded the first iteration of what is now Pandora Media Inc. in January 2000 and got the company's first $1.5 million in funding from some angel investors, just a few weeks before the Nasdaq Stock Market crashed in the spring of 2000.
Read the whole interview at MarketWatch.com

May 20th, 2008

What's work without music to drown out your annoying co-workers? Who can spend an entire day and not want to listen to some tunes? It's really the only way to deal with the soul-crushing force that having a job can generate.

Now, broadcast radio has always sucked. Reception can always be a little difficult, especially when you sit a radio next to a machine that generates large electromagnetic forces. Like a PC. So now you not only have to listen to a semi-sane DJ giggle through a morning show, but it sounds like the speakers are being drilled by a dentist high on his own nitrous-oxide.
Read the whole interview at RedOrbit.com

March 24th, 2008

Tim Westergren founded Pandora in January 2000 and now serves as its Chief Strategy Officer. He is an award-winning composer, an accomplished musician and a record producer with 20 years of experience in the music industry. He spends most of his time these days as Pandora's chief evangelist - traveling the country to meet with listeners to collect feedback, research local music, and spread the word of the Music Genome Project.

We talked about ways people find out about new music, the changing music industry, how to build a business, and more.
Hear the whole interview at MusicBusinessRadio.com

March 23rd, 2008

As the audience for AM and FM radio declines, start-up entrepreneurs and giant media companies alike search for the "next radio" -- a way to make money by helping listeners discover new music.
Read the whole article at Washingtonpost.com

March 25th, 2008

The millions of users of music-focused social networking websites have caught the attention of artists and labels. "With so many people spending such longsessions on the (sites), the bands want to get in front of you," says Paul Resnikoff, editor of DigitalMusicNews.com. USA TODAY offers a playlist of tuneful social sites:
Read the whole article at USAToday.com

March 8th, 2008

With South by Southwest bringing volumes of new music to Austin starting this weekend, one group will represent an online service whose aim is at the very heart of Austin's music culture.

Representatives from the free online radio station Pandora will attend the festival to look for new music and participate in a panel at the Interactive Festival on Tuesday called "FM 2.0: The Future of Internet Radio."

The 3-year-old Web site's purpose is twofold: help listeners discover new music and give artists a leg up in the feast-or-famine music business, Pandora founder Tim Westergren said.

Read the whole article at statesman.com

February 26th, 2008

Tim Westergren just wanted to roam the earth like Kane looking for music. His plan was to simply breeze into a town, check out the scene, absorb some new sounds and move on.

But like Pandora - the free, personalized online radio Web site Westergren founded in 2005 - his humble idea is on the verge of exploding into a phenomenon.

Wednesday, Westergren’s brings his tour to Boston University’s Morse Auditorium, where he’ll spend a couple hours with Pandorites waxing poetic about his revolutionary musical invention.

Read the whole article at bostonherald.com

January 3rd, 2008

Music and technology are forever intertwined, from the Player Piano to the gramophone and radio, through the eight-track and Walkman to compact discs and iPods. The medium changes and the musical tides may briefly ebb, but demand for recorded music never wanes. And competition remains heated to win the dollars that come from sound delivery. For instance, whereas in the ’80s record stores, distributors and labels all shared in the CD boon, since 2001 and the introduction of the iPod, many of the digital age’s benefits have flowed directly to Apple.

Read the whole article at Orlandoweekly.com