Sources: Pandora's new music services could launch as early as Thursday; deals set with Universal Music, Sony, and Merlin, but not yet Warner Music
Sources say it's aiming for a Thursday launch. — Pandora wants to launch two new music services, and it may be ready to do it this week.
Context & Ripple Effects
After weeks of reported licensing negotiations with the major record companies, Pandora is now set to launch its two new services as early as this week — with Universal Music, Sony, and Merlin signed but Warner Music still holding out. The $10-per-month unlimited-access structure reported in August is what these deals were meant to unlock.
The stakes are Pandora's identity: a company built on radio-style streaming converting into an on-demand subscription player, a shift that culminated months later when it formally unveiled its Premium on-demand service.
First-order effects
- Pandora can put its new services live this week with the catalogs of Universal, Sony, and Merlin behind them, but a Warner Music gap leaves its on-demand offering incomplete from day one.
Second-order effects
- Warner's absence becomes negotiating leverage in both directions: Pandora launches without a fourth of the major-label catalog, while Warner risks being the lone holdout if the service gains traction.
- Rivals read the same playbook — YouTube's later move toward a paid on-demand service opened with Warner already signed, showing how labels are shopping the same rights across multiple bidders.
Third-order effects
- If radio-style streamers keep converting to licensed on-demand tiers, the labels' direct-deal leverage consolidates pricing power around a standard ~$10 subscription, squeezing ad-supported-only models out of the middle of the market.
The trend: Internet-radio companies are remaking themselves as on-demand subscription services under direct major-label licenses, with each label deal deciding who gets to compete.