Pandora Management Reshuffle Underway; Analysts Cautious

Herring and Chief Marketing Officer Nick Bartle. Added to the board, from which co-founder Westergren left, is Jason Hirschhorn, former Sling Media president and CEO of digital content creation company Redef. Multiple changes in the leadership team signal “likely forthcoming changes in the company’s strategy as well,” Dougherty's Steven Frankel wrote investors, citing SiriusXM’s 19 percent investment in Pandora this month (see 1706090005). The company is “desperately in need of a front man,” wrote Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter. The analyst wrote SiriusXM “may exert greater influence than was previously expected” by pivoting from the current strategy, which could include scaling back on on-demand subscription ambitions. Pandora director Roger Faxon said the board over the past few weeks took steps to “refocus and reinforce Pandora” and said the Plus and Premium subscription offerings are “new, integral parts of our arsenal.” The transition of music listeners from traditional terrestrial radio to “more dynamic and flexible offerings” is a “massive opportunity,” said Faxon. In the Tuesday Pandora announcement, Westergren said he came back to the CEO role last year to “drive transformation across the business,” and that included renegotiated relationships with music companies, the on-demand launch and tech innovations in the advertising business. Pandora is “perfectly poised for its next chapter,” he said. Pachter noted the four remaining board members took action leading to the departures of Westergren, Herring and Bartle, suggesting they were “dissatisfied with Pandora’s strategy and felt a change was in order.”