Pandora's bid to generate new revenues by moving into ticketing was stepped up earlier this week when the streaming music firm announced it would start recommending gigs to users via its app as well as sending listeners a regular digest of upcoming shows they might be interested in, based on their listening habits.
Pandora is not unique amongst the streamers in adding gig recommendations as a service for users, but unlike its competitors it sees this not just as an added benefit for users - or, indeed, its music industry partners - but as a way of making more money. As you may remember, Pandora moved into ticketing itself by acquiring Ticketfly last year. Says Pandora boss man bloke Tim Westergren: "Pandora is redefining the music experience, and that includes live events. There's nothing like the magic of a live show, and there's nothing worse than missing your favourite band because you didn't know they were in town. Pandora and Ticketfly are solving that with personalised and effortless access to live, local events". Yeah, whatever you say Tim.