Pandora, the leading internet radio station that has been looking to dent the rise of Spotify, announced that it had struck licensing deals with major record labels. Pandora said it had reached arrangements with Universal and Sony Music, two of the three major record label conglomerates, although not for the moment with the third, Warner Music.
The deal will allow Pandora to offer on-demand music along the lines of Spotify and Apple Music, which are widely seen in the music industry as the future of growth. Pandora has designed itself as similar to a radio station, making it popular for casual listeners or restaurants seeking an automatic music selection. It says it has 78 million active users -- an impressive number but stagnant compared with the fast-paced growth of competitors. Sweden-based Spotify said in June that it had topped 100 million active users, although only 30 million paid for subscriptions. Streaming has offered a long-awaited source of growth in the music industry, with global revenues last year rising for the first time since the dawn of the internet age, although some artists question the compensation levels
