iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia’s all-in-one digital music and live streaming radio service, has announced via their iHeart blog that it now has more than ”80 million registered users”.
At last count, Pandora has 250 million registered users and 78 million monthly active users, according to an investor presentation in December. That’s three times the size, and part of the reason why Pandora seems to receive more than 90 percent of media coverage around internet radio.
iHeartRadio launched in September 2011, and has since grown into a digital music service that offers a network of traditional radio stations. These days, there are other lofty figures being thrown around beyond registered users. According to iHeart Radio’s blog, the app has been ”downloaded more than 850 million times”, with ”80 million social media followers”. The service is also said to be ”available on more than 80 device platforms” spanning in-home entertainment to mobile etc., with Pandora in a similar platform race.
Pandora is considerably larger, but is iHeartRadio growing a lot faster? The app has seen double-digit growth in both the number of active users and the amount of time users spend listening over the past year, says Grover, iHeartRadio’s General Manager and Senior Vice President.
Unfortunately, iHeartRadio (and parent iHeartCommunications, formerly Clear Channel Communications) is being weighed by massive debt and financial uncertainty. That’s equally true for stock-tanking Pandora, with both companies facing serious icebergs ahead (especially in the event of an economic shock). Outside of those concerns, iHeartRadio faces continued pressure to innovate and diversify its service, as mega-rivals like Apple, Google, Spotify, and Pandora tossing billions to woo music fans.
I’m pretty sure Pandora has > 200 million registered users. Using the average monthly listener count here is an unfair comparison.
Keyword is registered users, not unique. Pandora has 80M UNIQUE and 250M registered users.
incorrect comparison of standard industry metrics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monthly_active_users
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_user
Comparing two different metrics. Their definitions are industry standard. Registered to registered, active to active.
You are all right, I was mixing metrics here (that was my edit over Charlotte’s original piece). Thanks for the corrections.
Now that the correct metric are being used, I have another question. Am I missing something here, or is that 250 million figure completely meaningless?
Pandora can legally be used in just five countries worldwide: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Total combined population of these countries is around 450 million. Not sure about Pandora’s ToS, but I assume one needs to be at least 15 to register (can anyone confirm?). Total combined population of these countries aged 15 and over is about 370 million.
Pandora is thus implying that 2 out of every 3 people living in these countries that CAN subscribe to their service IS subscribed to their service; or that market penetration is 55% of the TOTAL population regardless of age!
I’m more interested in monthly active users, and WHERE those users are located, i.e., inside or outside their legal zone.
Just a thought. Do let me know if I’m missing something 🙂
Pandora quit the UK in 2008, citing excessive streaming royalty rate demands from CMO PRS For Music. I saw in 2015 that they’ve been rumored to be returning to the UK soon. Pandora is also not legally available in Canada so your that reduces the total population reach to 350 million and even less for ages 15 and over. That would make the market penetration even higher (you can do the math), which makes it even more impressive.
Take off another 50 million for the over 70 crowd.