[Off-topic] Archer:
I love the fact that the OP has told us what we can and can't do in the thread.

To help in this matter, here's a very brief summary of the services...

Slacker Radio is an interactive Internet radio service available in the US and Canada. Listeners can access the service on the web, through mobile apps on multiple smartphones as well as on Slacker Personal Radio Players and other devices. It allows users to create and share customized music stations. Slacker allows users to customize one of their programmed stations (for instance, Top hits) or start with music similar to an artist or song, and then customize that. In April 2009, the service had over 2.4 million songs, organized into over 100 programmed stations and 10,000 artist stations.[1]

Contents

History

The company was founded in 2004 by Celite Milbrandt[2] and Dennis Mudd who launched the company in March 2007.[3][4][5] Dennis was the former CEO of MusicMatch, which was purchased by Yahoo Music and is now known as Yahoo! Music Radio. The current CEO is Jim Cady, former CEO of Rio.

In September 2007, the service [6] finalized its deals with four major labels: Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI, Universal, and Warner; it also announced deals with thousands of Indie labels.[7]

In April 2008, the company announced agreements with top music publishers, including EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group and Warner/Chappell Music. These agreements, signed before the Slacker Portable Player launched, allowed Portable Player users to listen to cached Internet radio stations and premium radio users to save songs for later playback.[8]

In November 2008, Slacker became available on Sony's BIVL service. [9] In May 2009, a built-in Slacker Radio app was launched on Sony's Walkman X1000 series. In principle, it worked similar to the Portable Player, refreshing music when connected to a WiFi network.[10]

Basic functions

Slacker offers traditional genre, specialty, and artist stations pre-programmed by professional DJs while also letting users build entire stations of specific artists. Slacker users can continue to develop any of these stations by rating favorite songs and banning artists or songs. Stations can also be adjusted to play older or newer music, more hits or more eclectic music. Users who log onto Slacker can begin listening to music from more than 100 professionally programmed and 10,000 artist-specific stations.[1] When a user inputs the name of a specific band or artist Slacker will instantly create a station based on that musician along with similar artists. This feature allows users to discover new artists similar to the ones they already like. Users can also create their own stations by inputting artists they like. The rest of the station is automatically populated with similar songs and artists. If a paid subscription user adds 15 or more artists into a selected personal station, Slacker does not add additional artists and only songs from the specifically chosen bands will play on that station.[citation needed] Pre-programmed themed stations (holidays, music festivals, and artists) are also available.

In July 2010, Slacker added the ABC News station, with an option to include headline news for top-of-the-hour updates on any Slacker Radio station.[11] In late summer 2011, ESPN channels were also added.

Account types

The free Slacker Basic Radio user account is an advertisement-supported service. It allows registered users to have free access to basic features, and works on all Flash-enabled web browsers.

In addition to its free, ad-supported service, Slacker offers additional levels of subscription service:

Slacker Radio Plus adds station caching to mobile phones, unlimited skips and song requests, no audio or banner advertisements, full lyrics, and the ability to turn off DJs on stations.

Slacker Radio Premium has all the features of the Plus tier, adding the ability to create playlists and play selected songs on demand, similar to a traditional mp3 player. This tier was added in May 2011.

Slacker mobile applications

Slacker mobile apps work with the free Slacker Basic Radio service and Slacker Radio subscription services on iPhone, iPod touch, WebOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Windows Phone 7 smartphone platforms. The applications provide high-quality stereo playback from 3G or WiFi connections. Features such as station creation, recently played stations, fine-tune options, artist biographies, photos, album art, reviews, station caching and lyrics (for Slacker Radio Plus or Premium subscribers) are available on the mobile applications as well.

Slacker community

Slacker has provided its listeners and all music fans with the opportunity to connect via Twitter, MySpace and Facebook to further promote music discovery.

Twitter

Twitter users can login to Slacker[12] and select the option to automatically or manually alert their friends and followers about the following:

Station changes/plays

Favorite song

Banned song

Banned artist

Facebook

Facebook users can find Slacker Radio on Facebook and become a fan to get music news and learn about new features, promotions, and contests.

MySpace

Listeners can add their Slacker Radio station to MySpace with the free Slacker widget.

Slacker Portable Radio Player

The first generation players were available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB capacities.[13] On January 9, 2008 the not yet released Slacker Portable Player received Laptop Magazine's Best of CES Portable Audio/Video Player Award.[14]

Slacker G2 Personal Radio Player

The Slacker G2 Portable Player doing a station update

On September 16, 2008 Slacker released a new portable player called Slacker G2.[15] When located in a WiFi hot spot or connected to a PC, its radio delivery network can download and refresh selected songs on the device and turn them into personalized radio stations. The players do not have to be connected to WiFi for playback.[16] The player ties in with a Slacker account, and features available depend on whether the user has the free, Plus, or Premium service. It has a 2.4” color screen (Resolution: 320×240 TFT) and comes in capacities of 4GB and 8GB. It is compatible with various digital music formats (MP3, WMA and ACC), and claims up to 15 hours of battery life.

Devicescape Connect

Devicescape Connect is a feature that was added to the Slacker Portable Players to allow users to access WiFi-hotspots that would normally require a web-based login, something that the Slacker Portable could not previously access because of its lack of a web-based browser.[17]

Pandora Radio is an automated music recommendation service and custodian of the Music Genome Project available only in the United States. The service plays musical selections similar to song suggestions entered by a user. The user provides positive or negative feedback for songs chosen by the service, which are taken into account for future selections.

While listening, users are offered the ability to buy the songs or albums at various online retailers. Over 400 different musical attributes are considered when selecting the next song. These 400 attributes are combined into larger groups called focus traits. There are 2,000 focus traits. Examples of these are rhythm syncopation, key tonality, vocal harmonies, and displayed instrumental proficiency.

The Pandora media player is based on OpenLaszlo. Pandora can also be accessed through many stand-alone players, such as the Roku DVP (formerly Netflix player) Reciva-based radios (from companies like Grace Digital, Sanyo, and Sangean), Frontier Silicon-based connected audio systems, Slim Devices, and Sonos[3] product(s). On July 11, 2008, Pandora launched a mobile version of their software for the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch through the iTunes App Store. Pandora is also available for Android phones[4], BlackBerry platforms, HP webOS (used on the Palm Pre, Palm Pixi, Palm Pre 2, and HP Veer), and Windows Mobile devices. Pandora was the provider for MSN Radio until MSN discontinued their internet radio service on June 18, 2008.[5] A modified version of Pandora has been made available for Sprint Nextel.

The service has two subscription plans: a free subscription supported by advertisements, and a fee-based subscription without ads. There are also advertisements in Pandora Mobile for mobile phones and the Pandora in The Home computer appliance. Most users choose the free subscription.[6]

As of IPO, Pandora had 80,000 artists, 800,000 tracks in its library and 80 million users.[7]

In May 2010, Pandora was named in Lead411's 2010 Hottest San Francisco Companies list.[8] In January 2011, Pandora met with bankers to consider a possible $100 million IPO.[9][10] The company filed with the SEC for a $100mm IPO on February 11, 2011[11] and officially began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with ticker symbol "P" on June 15, 2011 at a price of $16/share. This gave them a valuation of nearly $2.6 billion.[12]

During its 2011 fiscal year, Pandora reported $138 million in revenue with a $1.8 million net loss, excluding the cost of a special dividend associated with the IPO. [13]

Using and tuning

A station is set by specifying an artist or song, or a combination of multiple items of any kind in a single station. Listeners can tune into pre-made genre stations and other users' stations. Each track played can be responded to with favorable (thumbs up) or unfavorable (thumbs down) buttons, which determine if it should be played, and how much should similarly classified songs be played in the station. A second negative response to the same artist will ban that artist from the selected station unless the user has marked the artist positively on another occasion. No response is applicable to musical attributes or to albums. An unfavorable response immediately stops play of the track.

In addition, a menu is provided with the choices: I'm tired of this song, Why was this song selected?, Move song to another station, New Station, and Bookmark. A Buy button is located at the top of each song block. From there, listeners can click on links to buy the song from iTunes or Amazon.

There is a setting in each member's account regarding whether the user wants songs with explicit lyrics played. This, however, does not apply exclusively to albums with the parental advisory label, as other songs with censored versions will have that version played. An example is "Jet Airliner" by the Steve Miller Band, which had one word censored for radio play. With explicit lyrics off, that version will play, despite the album itself not having a PA label.

Limitations

To comply with the requirements and protections offered by the DMCA, Pandora only serves users in the United States. Initially this was enforced lightly, by requiring a U.S. ZIP code at registration, but since May 3, 2007, Pandora has blocked non-U.S. IP addresses.[14]

Rewind or repeat is not possible. Until May 2009, six skips per station were allowed per hour, further limited to 72 skips every 24 hours; giving a "thumbs down" response, or a "don't play for a month" response, count as "skips". On May 21, 2009, the skip limit was altered such that it counts total skips from all stations with the limitation of twelve total skips every 24 hours (an average of one skip every two hours). If a listener gives a song a thumbs-down or "don't play for a month" after the limit has been exceeded, the song will continue to play; it's only after the song has completed that it becomes subject to the listener's restrictions. This limit was not applied to the Vista gadget. Originally, this was determined per account, but has since been determined per IP address. For the Vista gadget, skips can be reset by closing the gadget and adding it again. However, doing this too frequently will result in an error that will prevent usage of both the Vista gadget and the internet player for up to thirty minutes.[citation needed]

Play of a single artist is limited. Pandora provides similar music, not a play-on-demand service.

As of 2009, the mini player is only available with Pandora's subscription service. Free accounts include advertising. These include simple interruptions, with the ad listed on the stream; advertising skins, which do not interrupt the stream; and popup ads. The Vista player has no ads.

Initially, users with free accounts could listen to 40 hours of music a month, and could pay $.99 per month for unlimited streaming. In September 2011, Pandora removed the 40 hour listening limit[15].

Mobile devices

Pandora iOS App

The Pandora Mobile for BlackBerry application is limited to AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Boost Mobile, and U.S. Cellular U.S. carriers, but visiting the Pandora website directly from other providers' BlackBerry users have been successful downloading the fully operational application.

The Windows Mobile client is limited to a select number of handsets, however the installer is available from 3rd party sources and works fine or with only minor display glitches on most devices.[16]

Pandora is available on the iPhone, but authorized downloads and installs are only possible with a US iTunes account.[17]

[edit]Other features

Pandora Podcast (2007-2009), a musicology show that updated every few weeks in the form of a podcast. It was hosted by Kevin Seal of the band Griddle. Each show was based around a specific music topic, and featured guest musicians and Pandora experts who normally analyzed the music featured on the Pandora website.[18]

A Facebook application developed to allow users to put their Pandora radio stations on their Facebook profiles.[19]

Pandora released a sidebar gadget for Windows Vista and Windows 7. This player retains the original skip limit, has no ads, and does not affect the hourly listening limit. However, many of the features (such as about the artist or adding to the station directly) are not included. Originally, an ad for Netflix was featured on the bottom of the player, but it has since been removed.

Pandora can be played on home CE devices such as WDLivePlus, Roku, Google TV, audio-video receivers, and Blu-ray players. Many HDTVs can also stream Pandora.

A Pandora app can be downloaded via iTunes. It retains the original skip limit as well as having no interruptions (although "sponsored links" appear at the bottom) and does not affect the listening limit.

Business Model

Pandora’s decision to be a consumer-oriented music discovery service, specifically a non-interactive radio station, has had significant implications with respect to its business model.

In the three months that ended October 31, 2011, advertising comprised 88% of Pandora’s total revenues.[20] RPM or revenue per 1000s of hours is determined based on CPMs or cost per thousand impressions. CPMs are largely dependent upon network effects and thus increase as a website scales and adds users. As such, Pandora’s strategy in order to allow for widespread distribution was to offer a service unbundled from devices and transport. Pandora is currently working with system-on-chip manufacturers to embed its technologies on the chips they sell to consumer electronics manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, and Panasonic.[21]

Pandora’s cost structure is highly variable, with content acquisition costs representing roughly 50% of total costs.[22] There are three main costs associated with content acquisition. First, SoundExchange collects content fees on behalf of labels or artists on the recording themselves. These are by far the largest content acquisition costs. Second, Pandora pays licensing fees to agencies such as BMI, ASCAP, or SESAC in order to compensate composers, songwriters and publishers. Lastly, Pandora also pays Rovi for song and artist information; this has recently been structured as a flat monthly fee.

High variable costs mean that Pandora does not have significant operating leverage, and in the next couple years might actually have negative operating leverage due to an unfavorable shift in product mix towards mobile. Pandora is currently estimated to monetize mobile hours at roughly one-ninth the rate of desktop hours.[23] Since Pandora pays the same licensing cost per hour irrespective of the user's platform, the net contribution to earnings per mobile hour is even more skewed with respect to contribution to earnings from desktop hours. Mobile revenues will improve over time as Pandora shifts from relying on third-party ad networks to selling ad inventory internally at premium rates.

[edit]Royalty developments since 2007

In 2007, a federal panel agreed with a SoundExchange request and ordered a doubling of the per-song performance royalty that Web radio stations pay to performers and record companies. Under this scheme, internet radio would pay double the royalty as satellite radio.

Because of recent Copyright Royalty Board rulings that increase fees and ask for licensing guarantees, the Pandora service is no longer available in countries other than the United States.[24][25] These rulings affect all U.S.-based Internet-based radio stations (terrestrial radio is not affected).

As of July 2008, Pandora was in talks with major music labels regarding royalty issues to allow a return to the European market. Costs remain a concern because of European royalty standards and a low demand for paid music services.[26]

In 2008, the founder of Pandora stated that the company may be on the verge of collapse. Royalty fees account for a majority portion of Pandora's revenues. If an agreement between Pandora and SoundExchange is not reached, it could mean the end of Pandora. "We're losing money as it is," said Tim Westergren. "The moment we think this problem in Washington is not going to get solved, we have to pull the plug because all we're doing is wasting money." [27]

On September 30, 2008, a bill was passed by the U.S. House and Senate to allow sites like Pandora to continue negotiations with SoundExchange into 2009.

On July 7, 2009, Pandora announced that an agreement had been reached regarding the royalty issue, which would significantly reduce the royalty rate, making it possible for Pandora to stay in business. Also announced was that free listening would be limited to 40 hours per month, but can be extended to unlimited for that month for USD$0.99. "The revised royalties are quite high," the company's blog notes, "higher in fact than any other form of radio".[28] The extended listening fee differs from "upgrading", which also disables advertisements, increases the bitrate to 192 kbps, and provides a dedicated music player (as opposed to listening through browser). This service, known as "Pandora One", costs $36 and is billed annually.[29]

On September 20, 2011, Pandora announced they have removed the 40 hours listening cap[15] and extended it to 320 hours. If you then reach the 320 hour listening cap, Pandora will then contact you, via email, about whether you’re abusing the system.[30]

On November 22, 2011, Pandora reported its Q3 earnings. Royalty costs accounted for 50% of revenue, slightly better than expected. Its revenue, most of it from advertising, continues to rise at respectable rates. Not only has Pandora attracted more users but the average number of hours per user have also increased. Pandora now accounts for an estimated 4% of total US listening hours. As Pandora grows, it hopes to gain leverage on music labels and drive royalty costs down. [31]

On December 9th, 2011, the CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, announced Spotify "radio" which boasts "unlimited stations" and "unlimited skips." This adds yet another competitor to the already packed internet radio market. Though Pandora's usage is 70% mobile, the creation of the Spotify "radio" app could intend to compete against Pandora's mobile market. [32]