Pandora will close its Australian office despite claiming a local user base of 1.2 million.
Even with 1.2 million users the operation claims its audience isn’t enough to warrant its costs and its revenue is not increasing to cover its costs.
60 people worked for Pandora in Australia. That is an enormous amount of people for an operation that effectively off-shore base for the US operation. Radio stations in Australia with bigger audiences have less staff and generate higher revenues than Pandora in Australia. The company was spending recklessly and its longevity simply wasn’t viable.
Pandora also did not have a significant point of difference with its competitors giving Spotify the advantage. It is why Deezer before it also struggled and faded. Effectively, they are all music taps with the same fluid. That brings the choice down to technology and cost.
Spotify now dominates the Australian streaming landscape. Apple Music has not had anywhere near the anticipated impact of Spotify but the company has deep pockets and can afford to operate Apple Music as a loss-leader.
