SiriusXM Just Shut Stitcher, Is Pandora Next?
One year ago, I predicted SiriusXM would shut down Stitcher. This month, they will. But I got one critical point wrong — SiriusXM did not combine Stitcher with Pandora (the music streaming business they bought in 2018). Instead, the satellite radio company pushed users to the paywalled SiriusXM app. That’s a strange choice. SiriusXM’s app and premium satellite radio service are largely separate from their podcast side hustle. Those core businesses use a pay-for-exclusive content model that relies on shunting users to one platform. On the other hand, their audio ad business relies on distributing podcasts to as many platforms as possible. Pandora actually dovetails with that goal: it’s a free, mostly ad-supported service. So why not push the now homeless Stitcher to the SiriusXM app instead? Here’s one possible answer: the company plans to merge Pandora and SiriusXM brands into a single entity that combines all three of its business models into a single digital audio app. That move would create a Spotify competitor with a free tier, ad-free subscription tier, and a little extra secret sauce: a paywalled premium tier with access to SiriusXM radio and other exclusive content. The company would make more money from targeted ads, grow its add-free subscriptions (Pandora only has 6.5 million versus Spotify’s 210 million), and push new users into a digital version of SiriusXM radio.
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