The only time the company saw a blip in the growth of its listening hours was when Apple’s iTunes radio service launched, he says. “There have been at least 20 ‘Pandora-killers,'” Westergren said in an interview. Westergren said that, like many times in Pandora’s 10-year life span, this is just another period that Pandora will have to weather. Meanwhile, the company missed its earnings expectations last quarter, sending its shares into a downward spiral.

The news comes as Pandora experiences stronger competition than ever from iHeartRadio, YouTube’s streaming service, and Apple’s radio service. (Spotify is hot on Pandora’s tail with 60 million active users.) In an interview, Westergren said Pandora’s large set of data, which includes 50 billion thumbs up and thumbs down signals, is one of its most-overlooked advantages over competitors. The company had 81.5 million active listeners as of last year, who listened to 20 billion hours worth of music in 2014. Pandora (P) has an advantage over its competitors because of the size of its listener base and how many hours they listen. Westergren hinted that this is the start for a whole customer relationship management, or CRM, platform for artists. It’s more of a way to curry favor with artists. Pandora, which makes the majority of its $712 million in annual revenue from ads, has no plans to monetize this feature. He or she could use it to tell fans in a specific city about an upcoming show, or simply thank them for listening. Playbooks for event promotion, music marketing, and fan.

Free tools for artists of all sizes to build audiences, engage fans, and drive sales. An artist can record a short message to be injected into playlists based around their music. Trusted by over half a million musicians and their teams, Bandsintown For Artists is a free, all-in-one platform that empowers artists to build sustainable futures.

Bandsintown & songkick