Pandora has opened its box against Apple Music and Spotify. Like any good American business, it’s seeking to take over the two giants by simply spending some big bucks. How big? $75 million to be exact.
APPLE MUSIC AND SPOTIFY FIERCE COMPETITON
Pandora has just spent $75 million on popular web-streaming service Rdio, directly challenging the powers that be, Apple Music and Spotify. This move has been a last-ditch effort of sorts. The company’s stock has plummetted since Apple Music launched in June. Pandora still remains the internet streaming leader, but with Apple Music offering live global internet radio, their stock is in threatened. If that wasn’t enough for them to handle, the heated rivalry with Spotify and other streaming services continue.
PANDORA GOES IN THE RED
Pandora is pulling out every stop imaginable to beat Apple Music and Spotify. Just as a failing marriage rank news its vows in hopes of survival, Pandora paid $50 million in extra research and development services. On top of that, they paid $30 million for Rdio employees and $40 million to launch a new on-demand service. This puts them in the negative by $70 million. It looks like suicide, but really, it’s just a major gamble. If this strategy actually beats Spotify and others, those massive cajones will be put on a golden pedestal of respect in the music streaming the world. If it fails, like many think it will, they will become more pathetic than they already look.
OVERSEAS MARKETS WILL DECIDE THE OUTCOME
Overseas expansion for many companies will take center stage in 2016. Rdio’s new owner is usually the leader outside the U.S in Australia and New Zealand, but as with the U.S, they are also declining. If they can expand to other aspects of the international market, they may just have a fighting chance. $70 million was spent to give them that chance so by that logic, it could work. Others think it is not a matter of money, but of functionality. Functionality is what the competitors are best at, which very well could lead them to the top.
