As Pandora gets embattled by competition and slow domestic growth, the prominent internet radio service has started laying the groundwork for an international expansion, seeking rights to stream songs outside the United States, according to Bloomberg Business.
According to early reports, Pandora Media Inc. has already began approaching a number of notable record holders in a number of countries to acquire rights to broadcast international music catalogs, with the U.K. possibly being the internet radio's first stop for its international expansion operations.
The move, however, comes as no surprise, especially since the company has been struggling as of late in the United States. Just recently, Pandora was embroiled in a number of settling disputes with record companies, with tensions running at an all-time high as a number of entities in the music industry have complained that the internet radio service does not pay song artists enough, reports The Wall Street Scope.
Pandora has made a number of notable efforts to rebuild its reputation, though, agreeing to a settlement worth $57.9 million in October over rights to songs that were produced prior to 1972. It has also agreed to license U.S. rights to songs from Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
James Marsh, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., believes that despite the company recently finding itself in dire straits, the decision to expand internationally is the right choice for Pandora.
"If you look at what they've accomplished in the past couple weeks, they're making progress," he said.
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