MUMBAI: Pandora, the leading Internet radio service, announced that it has generated more than $1.5 billion in all-time royalties for music makers, marking a major milestone for ad-supported music streaming.

Pandora holds an important leadership role in the music industry, with nearly 80 million active monthly users tuning in to its service for more than 20 hours every month on average.

“We are very passionate about our mission to help artists find their audience and help listeners find their music - music they love, that moves them, that they personally connect with - and we are achieving significant momentum,” said Brian McAndrews, chairman and CEO of Pandora. “It took us nearly nine years to generate the first billion dollars in royalties, and just over a year to increase that total by 50 percent. We are partnering with music makers to fully tap into Pandora’s people, data and technology to unleash the music industry’s full potential. I am proud of our enormous royalty contributions and our progress on building on a broader vision for the future of music.”

Pandora achieved this milestone due to joint revenue streams flowing from ad-supported and paying subscribers. The combined income from both sources enabled Pandora to monetise its advertising for the benefit of music makers, while additionally drawing monthly payments from listeners who prefer an ad-free experience. This ability to drive royalties to artists from subscription as well as previously untapped advertising revenue streams is integral to Pandora’s mission to unleash the power of music and foster growth for the music industry.

In addition to significant royalty payments, Pandora has launched a series of initiatives aimed at transforming how fans and musicians connect. Pandora provides transparency in listener demographics and music performance through the Insights dashboard on the artist marketing platform alongside big-data analytics powered by Next Big Sound. Artists audio messaging and promotional partnerships for concert tours and new music releases are all part of Pandora’s mission to become an indispensable partner to the music industry while delivering its unparalleled personalised music discovery experience to listeners.